Lust in Translation

My friend giggled. I laughed.

Just about then, Leslie stepped out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her, patting her damp hair. She looked puzzled.

"You're still on the phone?' she said.

I smiled and shrugged.

Leslie furrowed her brow and then cracked a smile. She couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or amused. I wasn't sure whether to feel guilty or stupid.

It was, in an odd, small way, not so different from the confusion I've often felt traveling in a country where the culture and language are not my own. I arrive eager to make sense of everything. But the more time passes, the more I'm reminded that this is not so easily accomplished and that the world is an impossibly complicated place. And then, as hard as it is, I try to make peace with my confusion and even, on rare occasions, embrace it.

I decided it was time to get off the phone. I searched my phrase book for a few parting words. Then, in my best Mandarin accent, I said, "Is there a lifeguard on duty?" My friend giggled. We giggled together. Then I gently hung up the phone.

Jim Benning is a Southern California freelance writer and coeditor of the online travel magazine WorldHum.com.