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Interview with Jos from Flores

Name: Jos
Age: 21
From: Flores
Occupation: Gardener
How long in Bali: 2 years

Every morning I trek down to Cafe Seminyak for a coffee, and to hear what is going on in the area. The short walk takes me down Jl. Seminyak past Paul Ropp, and a Thai restaurant called Lemongrass. A young guy from Flores takes care of the plants. He is always friendly, and asks me how my coffee was, and what I’m doing.

Jos is 21 and the island he comes from is in Eastern Indonesia between Sumbawa and Timor. Flores is 85% Christian, and is dry and mountainous. Only Java and Sumatra have more active volcanoes. Like many other people from the less developed islands, Jos came to Bali looking for work. He said he likes Bali, because there are not too many criminals and people are friendly.

Flores has an interesting ethnic mix with Melanesian people as well as Malays, and people descended from the Hindu’s from India who spread Hinduism across Indonesia. The first European to visit Flores, was the Portuguese explorer Cabot in 1544. He named the island Cabo de Flores (Cape of Flowers). Flores is a popular place with backpackers.

Here’s what Jos had to say.