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One running theme in my life: I get to do very unexpected things and meet random people. That’s just how it is, and I love it.

So, when I found out that I was invited to a dinner with Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, I didn’t spend much time trying to figure out how, why, and what the reasons were. Instead, I just said “sure!” and went.

The dinner was held last night in Charlestown at a Middle Eastern restaurant complete with hookas, belly dancers, the works. The one strange thing was that there were professors from both Harvard and Emerson, the Prince’s friends from Saudi Arabia, people from the Boston Symphony, PhD students……and me. But I just pretended I belonged there and went with it.

Unfortunately, my bad tooth was bothering me, and knowing that I was to have a root canal on Monday morning, I didn’t want to order anything that I would have to chew too much. So I found myself having a conversation with the Prince and friends about my tooth problems. And whoever said I wasn’t smooth?

Well, I ended up getting soup for the appetizer- which was perfectly safe. And the softest thing on the menu was cous-cous. Or so I thought…..

Instead, it was this giant dish of lamb with a little bit of cous cous underneath. And, since everyone at the table knew about my dental situation as well as my inexperience with Moroccan food, everyone was watching me eat to make sure I liked it. It was good, but I must have found the one hard part of the lamb, because when I bit into something, I could feel a big piece of my temporary filling break off. Exposing the nerve. Ow.

So, at around 10:30, I had to thank everyone and excuse myself. I was in rough shape. When I got up to leave, the prince thanked me for coming, and wished me luck with the root canal in the morning.

So there’s a lesson for you: when you’re meeting important foreign dignitaries, the best way to break the ice is to talk about dentistry. Really makes them impressed with you.