The Kombi

The hostel I was at was also a camping site. On the back of it, there were all these trucks with tents set up next to it. I saw this one particular bus that said "around the world on a bus" painted on the side and I got curious about it. I decided I should go check it out.
I was walking around and eventually approached this lady who was around one of the tents. She was British and looked like she was around 40. She explained to me that the bus was part of a company that had all these buses around the world. As a customer, you fly into a continent, they pick you up and you follow their itinerary. It seemed cool at first, but now that I think of it, I rather go free and stay at places I like or leave early if I dont like it.
That was it for the bus thing. I kept on talking to the lady and I must say that I love how the British are so proper that it can even make them look foolish. It started when I asked this lady how long she was going to travel for and what she did for a living back in England. She told me she was going to travel for as long as her money lasted, considering that she was made redundant
I was intrigued by what exactly being made redundant meant so she went on about how her job was in a department and there were changes in the job descriptions, making the position she held unnecessary. Considering others would now be doing what she did, keeping her would lead to redundant work, therefore she was let go.
"You were fired", I said
"That is one way to put it"
A straight forward way, I thought, but I didnt say it. It just seemed silly to me to go on about the differences between being fired and being made redundant when ultimately, in both cases, you are unemployed and left behind.
"They are different, you know", she said with royal accent.
Sure they are... I thought, but again I didnt say anything. She was very nice and there was no point in being confrontational. I had learned what I wanted to know about the bus so I figured I would go about my way.
On my way back to the pool, I saw and old Kombi, which is the Brazilian name of the VW bus. On top of it there were no less then 9 very expensive looking kayaks, all stacked up on a neat rack.
The "gringo flag" went up again. Kombis in Brazil are seen as the corniest of the corny and no Brazilian with such cool kayaks would ever get caught dead riding a Kombi. Not to mention that each one of those kayaks alone would probably costs twice the price of the Kombi.
I immediately thought of my sister. It is kind of an inside joke between us that I am such a cool guy that if I were to ride a kombi with 2 fuzzy dice hanging off the rearview mirror, people would start to ride kombis just so they could look like me. I insist that one day MTV will feature a music video with me and Marcelo D2 (a very cool Brazilian rapper) riding a 2 colored kombi.
Anyways, next to the beige colored kombi, this white guy with pillow marks on his face confirmed my "gringo flag" feeling.
Originally from Turlock, CA, this guy moved to Sacramento to become a kayak instructor. A couple of months ago, he and 3 others saved some money and flew to Brazil with a passport and 9 kayaks. The bought a kombi and began to look for rapids. He told me his goal was to paddle the Iguazy area. He was a nice guy and I wished him luck getting a permit. Being from Brazil, I actually knew he wouldnt paddle that area in a million years on account of the bureacracy. I didnt say anything because I didnt want to burst his bubble. He looked sleepy and said he was going to go back to sleep in his tent. We shook hands and I went back to the pool.