English Teacher. Cordoba, Argentina. Expat Alley Interview. Trevor Schrock

I’m a 29 year-old Los Angeles native that has spent half my life in Southern California and half my life in Colorado Springs. I currently am living in Cordoba, Argentina, which is the 2nd biggest city in Argentina. As the story goes, my grandparents were Protestant missionaries down here for 25 years, and would probably still be living here if it weren’t for Argentina’s laws in the 60′s that would have made my father’s service in the Argentinean military obligatory had he turned 16 in the country. My father was born and raised here, so he is blonde-haired, blue-eyed and speaks English with an oh-so-slight Argentinean accent. Latinos in Southern California are always taken by surprise when he speaks to them.  That being said, my parents never spoke Spanish in our home (my Mom doesn’t know a lick of Spanish), so I’m down here learning Spanish and connecting with my family’s roots…oh, and having a blast doing so. This helps keep the resentment toward my folks at bay (I could be perfectly bilingual right now!).

How long have you lived there and how long will you stay?  What keeps you there?

I have been in town for 9 months and don’t have a return ticket. Dual citizenship is a good possibility for me since my Dad was born here. I’m hoping to get my Argentinean passport to easily travel to the MercoSur countries and take college classes for almost nothing. Everyday is a learning experience; sometimes I go to bed with headaches from speaking and listening to Spanish, but the headaches never bug me because they are a painful reminder of linguistic progress.

What do you do to make a living?

I am a native English speaker with my degree in English, so there are always opportunities. Right now I am teaching English part-time for a local agency that has contracts with large US companies like HP and IBM. I also proofread Spanish-English translations to make ends meet. I have worked in some of the top restaurants in the US as a server and wine steward, so beginning in August I will be teaching a class which is a combination of beginner’s English and restaurant service for a local resort. If it were up to me I would be proofing full-time, which is why I am hoping to connect with agencies in the US to be making dollars and be geographically independent, but that is a work in progress.

Describe your average weekday and weekend day.

Weekdays consist of lots of bus rides, walking through downtown, and always being a bit more observant of my surroundings because the culture fascinates me. Weekends always consist of friends gathered around food and drink and the more than occasional outing to a bar or “boliche” which is where the locals go to shake what their mommas gave them. People never plan for the weekends more than a day in advance and yet there is always, always something going on…never a dull moment in Cordoba.

What skills have you learned while living abroad?

I can cope with discomfort with the best of them. Argentina is, of course, a developed nation, but for a spoiled kid from the US there are slight inconveniences that add up at times. 100 degree heat in the summer with scheduled power-outages? Drink lots of water and make your way to the local mall where they may or may not have A/C. 5-bedroom house that is like a fridge in the winter? Buy some extra sweaters and develop a knack for drinking a glass of red wine every night which really helps keep your hands warm while chatting with friends. Bus drivers strike because their corrupt union wants their members to make more money for less hours? More walking, expensive taxi rides, and consequently less money for beer.  Don’t even get me started on the issues presented by the language barrier.

What are you missing (professionally) by not being in your home country?

Careers are overrated. If anything my time down here will help me stand out from the competition next time I’m up for a job in the US. I’m actually down here trying to become bilingual to hopefully work with an US NGO in Latin America, which would provide me with the perfect balance of being home and being in Latin America on a regular basis.

If you could live anywhere, where would that be and why?

Hmmm…I would love to call 2 places in the US home (for now): Colorado has my heart thanks to dearly loved ones and a great community of friends that validate me as a person. Portland is an amazingly progressive, intelligent town filled with artisans that haven’t forgotten the important things in life. Not to mention both places have the best beer scenes in the country. Spain is tempting for continuing to improve my Spanish with Europe on my doorstep.

What is your favorite gadget that makes your work life abroad better?

My camera and laptop have proven to be invaluable purchases I made right before I made the jump down here. I dropped some dough on them which would have gone a lot further down here, but it has been priceless to have my Canon G10 and MacBook Pro at my side to help document some of my memorable experiences.

Do you have a favorite book that inspired you to travel or consider a different way of living?

“The Irresistible Revolution: Living As An Ordinary Radical” is a book that continues to challenge me and how I approach my time here on Earth. I read  ”Jesus for President” during my first time in Argentina in 2008, which helped me realize how myopic many people from the US can be in many respects. Both are written by a dude named Shane Claiborne who is an extremely thought-provoking Christian speaker, but not in the way you’re probably thinking.

Do you have a favorite expat blog?

I like to read about my friends Shawn and Courtney (http://thezsfamily.blogspot.com/), who are living in Uganda with a fascinating amount of grace and poise. They take fantastic pics and keep their entries light-hearted and steer away from making the blog overly self-indulgent.