a godsend.

The past 10 days or so have been miserable. I've been plagued by a terrible toothache and had a depressing experience looking for a dentist on a Friday afternoon. I finally got it sorted with my dentist in India, who came through with a simple and effective remedy (apply Sensodyne!). A few days later (again, right before the weekend) I was hit by another toothache of a totally different kind, and emailed my dentist in India. He thought it might be my bite that had to adjusted and advised me to go to a dentist here to get it looked at. I booked an appointment with my dentist in a private clinic (having had more than enough of government clinics) for Sunday morning. It turned out to be a root canal that would cost 200 KD, which incidentally is the cost of ALL my dental work in India. The timing really sucks considering I was in India just two weeks ago…

It’s been a while since I've been so upset. I've had five root canals so far (including this one) and an implant. Almost all my teeth have fillings despite the pains I take to maintain them. Will it ever end?

And then, in the midst of all this misery, something truly unbelievable happened.

Yesterday, a friend texted me out of the blue saying he had something that had to be given to me that same day and that it couldn't wait, refusing to divulge any more. Mystified with the cryptic texts, I suggested he stop by P2BK (Proud to be Kuwaiti exhibition) since that's where I've been living the past week or so.
Between watching the Harlem Shake performance, getting snacks, handing out brochures and talking to booth visitors, I whiled away the hours until the designated time.

He showed up with a huge package.

"What the heck is this?" I asked, even more mystified.
"It isn’t from me."

I ripped open the pretty packaging,

and read the card.

"OH MY GOD! THIS IS SO FREAKING COOOOOOL!! THIS IS SO SO COOOL!!"
*bobs up and down in delight*

Sheikha is a reader who discovered my blog via Botamba. She leaves me immensely supportive and encouraging comments on every post, and only recently revealed her name.

I pulled the ribbon on one of the boxes (there were two) and discovered a cake inside. We exchanged a wide-eyed glance of amazement. Try as I might I couldn't tie the ribbon half as neatly as it was to take a picture—in my excitement, I forgot to click a pic of the original package.

I went home taking great care of my precious cargo and was bombarded with questions from my flabbergasted family:

"Where did you get this from?"
"Sheikha sent it to me!"
"HOW DOES SHE KNOW WHERE WE LIVE?!"
"It wasn't sent home! We have a mutual friend who delivered it to me."
"How do you have a mutual friend with an anonymous person?!"
"We live in Kuwait. It's hardly surprising."
"Are you sure it's a woman? Maybe it's a guy who changed his name?"
"IT'S A WOMAN!"

I opened the boxes, thus ending the ridiculous interrogation.

a godsend!

We devoured the cake and the cake pops (from The November Bakery). Delicious!

Sheikha, thank you so much for the lovely package! The flowers are especially gorgeous, I can't stop smelling them! I am deeply touched, honoured and overcome with joy with your heartfelt gesture and appreciation for my writing. It couldn't have come at a better time, especially since I've been feeling so low all week. I feel so, so blessed and I hope we meet someday. I wish you all the very best; may God bless you with every happiness!

Nikhil, thanks a bunch for delivering the package and keeping the surprise!

Sighhhh. I'm sooo happy.