Day trip and juicy ear

I've been living in haze for the past few days, as the right side of my head feels swollen with an ear infection. It isn't visibly noticeable, but the pulsing, fuzzy pressure in the right hemisphere has off-set my balance and compromised my already-troubled hearing, so understanding a foreign language has become doubly-challenging.
Thankfully, I brought medicated ear drops with me, so I've already started the juicy, humbling, healing process.

In other news, I received notification from Irvine's anthropology department that I've been admitted with five years of funding: a combination of a tuition fellowship and a teaching-assistantship to cover my stipend and health insurance. YES. Health insurance! It is an amazing privilege to have the opportunity to continue my studies with the guarantee of health care.

Additionally, on Sunday, I joined some of my peers and my sponsor on a trip to visit my sponsor's family in the rural northeastern part of Central Java -- a town called Purwodadi.
It included a stop at a bizarre, belching mud pit. wooo.