House-Sit #6: We have a few days left in León with our “temporary pets” Lucky and Milo. These two are quite the pair! Lucky: a quiet, gentle, old chap who lives to eat chicken. Milo: a young, talkative rascal of a kitty with an adventurous spirit. They’re like the odd couple. We had a lot of responsibilities with these two (which I’ll describe in greater detail on our YouTube video, and in our stories) but they returned the favor by giving us lots of cuddles and love. We especially enjoyed Lucky’s walks, which would get him excited enough to do small “old man” leaps of joy.
León is another beautiful city, famous for leather working. It’s interesting that, when leaving Puerto Vallarta, my bilingual doctor asked how my Spanish was, as León is not known for having an English-speaking population. Of course that’s not a problem, but with an exception of the bustling historic plazas that can be found in the center of nearly every Mexican village and city, León “felt” in many ways like an American city. The street layout was a little more familiar, with less white-knuckle topes (very tall unmarked speed bumps), and a familiar urban to suburb layout. Our host house was in a gated community, with green grass and dogs walked on leashes, but the houses were not cookie-cutter, and there were lots of street vendors. Even the home was more familiar, although built with cement to avoid the need for heating or cooling, there was no problem flushing toilet paper, no small gas tanks that need changed when empty, and recycling.
1) Catedral de León in the Centro; 2) one of the (oddly) numerous Japan-themed murals in the city, perhaps encouraging us on our Japanese immigration quest; 3) the ever-present tortillería, which you can always hear and smell from a block away; 4) and 5) visually interesting street scapes, although not representative of the beauty of León ⌄
Although this sit was five weeks, the time flew by! We filled our days with time-consuming activities: I’ve been seeing different acupuncture doctors as we travel. This doctor was super friendly and knowledgeable, and helped us identify some of the reasons we’re having fertility trouble, alleviating my concern that it could be persistent Lyme disease and co-infections. We both received treatments twice a week, and that pretty much knocked us out for the whole day! Also, we spent many days preparing for our Japanese business plan application, researching Japanese farming regulations and opportunities, and applying for remote work in translation and photography. Wish us luck!
Our YouTube video covering House-Sit #6 ⌄
Thanks for reading,
Dani & Evan Benton
English 
日本語