Hats

I was mortified to see the hat selection on the wall of REI as I shopped with my mom a month ago for archaeological-dig-like clothes. What are you supposed to wear anyway? One thing I knew. None of those hats were going on my head. Some were about as attractive as wearing a fanny pack, with canvas flaps meant to cover the wearer’s neck. No gracias. And others had brims so wide my face lay in shadows and all you could see was my mouth, lying in a flat, un-amused line. No again. I finally found myself a cute, black Roxy confection that I hoped would make me look like a fashionable archaeologist, if that is at all possible,  all the while keeping my forehead from turning tomato red.

While I was self-consciously worried about the commitment I had made to my new hat, little did I know I had nothing to worry about. Gournia witnesses a variety of hats so diverse as to rival even the most extensive REI. Day one I played it safe and wore an A&M baseball cap. Can’t go wrong with the all-American, I-tried-but-my-hair-is-not-cooperating-today favorite. And while there were some baseball caps gracing the heads of other eager, bright-faced archaeology students, the seasoned veterans of Aegean Studies knew better. Not only do these people know a lot about digging in the dirt and analyzing the tiniest fleck of paint on a sherd of pottery (care to be in the know? A piece of pottery is called a sherd, a piece of glass is called a shard), but they also demonstrate a creativity never before seen in the design of innovative sun protection.

Exhibit A: My own Trench Master, who mid-morning accompanies his ritual dousing of sun block with the tying of a dingy, white T-shirt around his head, letting it hang down the back of his neck, topped with a bucket hat. It may not be pretty, but it gets the job done. The man has never had to buy aloe vera to recover from a sunburn.

My pride hasn’t let me reach for the bucket hat just yet. I find myself reaching for bandanas because they cover my ears, which get sunburned no matter how much sun block you use, and on more glamorous days I tie a colorful scarf in my hair, as the European students pull off so effortlessly. The sea serves as a weather forecast each morning; if the sea is still, it’s going to be a stifling day, so I reach for my baseball cap or my black REI purchase, to keep the blazing sun out of my face a little better. If there are whitecaps, it will be cooler because of the wind, so I feel more freedom to leave my hat at home and wear a scarf instead.

 But for some professors, SPF and hats simply aren’t their thing. Go without and get sunburned so many times your skin acquires the consistency and look of leather, as sported by the older experts.  One more measly little sunburn doesn’t faze them.

As ‘leathery’ isn’t really the look I’m going for long term, I’ve resigned myself to six weeks of hat-wearing, no matter how dorky I may feel. After a few days I realized no one cares what they look like. You’re too sweaty and hot to care. And as I have now created a reputation for myself for being the one who has the most dirt on her face at the end of the day, worries about appearance have gone out the window, and looking at myself in the mirror makes me laugh instead of cringe.

What with the streaks of dirt I got going on down the side of my face, I may just throw caution to the wind and wear that bucket hat.