Every time I fly home to Cusco, I sit on a bench in the main plaza and watch how life moves at a different pace. A worker sweeps a square that has been the heart of the city for more than 500 years. A mother and her daughter walk to school without the slightest hint of a rush. An older man reads a newspaper on the bench across from me. Even tourists sit in the Starbucks on the plaza and watch people go about their day. I can’t remember the last time I saw a Starbucks where people sat down and enjoyed their drinks.
Growing up in Cusco should mean I’m good at slowing down. But lately I find myself moving, or being moved, at the speed of tech. It feels like my job has turned into an endless chase for what’s best right now. What new workflow just got unlocked, whether Fable is better than Astra, whether to run coding agents like an orchestra or a factory, or what to even use Jev for. Most of it won’t matter in a few weeks. Who knows if Jev will still be relevant when you read this.
My last trip reunited me with friends and family I hadn’t seen in years. Except for one person (you know who you are), no one asked a thing about work. I’m not sure most of them even know what I do, and I like that. It felt good to be out of the tech bubble for once, and to be reminded that I grew up in a place that still knows how to slow down.