A friend
came to wait on our table – at a café in San
Diego, California.
I had met
Cláudia in Brazil four years
previously, and tell my friends about her life in the USA: she only
sleeps for three hours, since she works in this café till late, and is a
babysitter throughout the day.
"I
don’t know how she can stand it," one of them says.
"There’s
a Buddhist story about a turtle," replies an Argentinian woman at our
table.
"The
turtle was crossing a swamp, covered in mud, when it passed a temple. There it
saw the shell of another turtle – all adorned with gold and precious stones.
"I
don’t envy you, ancient friend," thought the turtle. "You’re covered
in jewels, but I’m doing what I want."
