It’s strange to think that not more than five months before I was sitting at my father’s table engaged in a heated discussion on Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Funny vs. not funny; comedic performance vs. social responsibility. On the surface, this may look like a completely unimportant event, and perhaps, it was.
Fast forward to my time in Argentina. I was sitting at an outdoor café in Salta with a friend, having a beer and recounting the main points of this bitter argument. My friend, sharing my sense of humor, unpacked a set of Borat impressions, which caught the ear of a stranger walking past who promptly turned and delivered a spot-on impression of Borat. “In my country…” the stranger smiled mischieviously. Recognizing our common Borat bond, the stranger soon sat down and introduced himself.