I developed a nasty ear infection in Lebanon, which I managed to get treated quickly at the American University Hospital in Beirut. (Drops, keep water out of the ear, that sort of thing.) I’ve had ear problems in that ear for years (due to difficulty with equalizing pressure between the inner and outer ear), so that made me more apprehensive about my travel plans. My flight to Germany onfirmed — as a scientific verity — that flying with an ear infection is very, very painful. I’m not really looking forward to the flight to the U.S., although I will be laden with gifts for great nieces and great nephews from the Frankfurt Weihnachtsmarkt (and with books, including a number of works by GÃ?Â??Ã?Â?Ã?¶tz Aly, Daniel Kehlmann’s Die Vermessung der Welt [Measuring the World], and a nice variety of German classics and history books).
