Hats

A final meeting with educational officials here in Muscat; it was scheduled for four hours ... I suggested an earlier finish and no-one objected. I am still trying to figure out who thinks four hour meetings can achieve anything other than mass fatigue.

There is an emerging ritual of photograph taking during and after these meetings. I've started to join in.

In recent years, I have become a committed hat wearer. In Oman it is largely for health and safety reasons. In the UK, it is a matter of insulation.

The Omani massar - a kind of turban - is cool. Everyone wears a white dishdasha so the hat allows some sort of statement of individualism.