Parallel lives

Finally I had the opportunity to travel across 3 timezones to Vancouver, B.C.



Although mostly a business trip, I managed to get in touch with a couple of friends that I had not seen in almost 10 years. Hardly a coincidence, their story about migrating to Canada a few years ago and making it through the corporate ladder, got me thinking about how similar our lives have been.

I may be wrong, but I believe the first time I met Carlos we were both trying to figure out how to make our passion for computers a way of life. This, over 15 years ago. Those were the days of the Atari and the Intel 8088. A few years later we met again, this time while studying computer systems in Mexico City, an although we never had a course together, we probably had pretty much the same professors all along.

A couple of years after graduating, I migrated to Canada to work in the booming Internet industry. At the time I thought I was leaving behind everyone and everything. Then, after all these years a 3-hour conversation at Afterglow in Yaletown, Vancouver, makes quite evident that we have found our ways in pretty much the same way. Even more, we find our drivers are very consistent and deeply defined by our past experience in Mexico.

Mexico City is a place of extremes. It will mark you in many different ways. Sometimes, these marks will push you away, and sometimes they will call you back. Considering how many people live there, it's very likely that I would find hundreds of people just like Carlos and I.