One of the benefits of a GIC Argentina program is the ability to participate in a wide variety of "short courses" – from yoga to extreme sports. And, one of the great benefits of choosing Argentina for your program is that the amazing exchange rate lets you try so many things that are typically more expensive in your home country. Combining your program with a short course will also allow you to meet more Argentineans during your program. Make the most of your time in Argentina, and augment your primary program by learning something totally new.

You need to be registered in a GIC Argentina program in order to participate in the following short courses:

Course Name: Polo Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: The Polo day course includes an introduction to the Polo Pony. A horse trainer will explain how the polo ponies are chosen for the sport, their bloodlines, and how they are trained. You can also watch practice drills and learn about what it takes to train a great polo pony. You can watch a polo exhibition match and see this intricate and fast-paced game happen in front of you and take a horseback ride through the countryside.

Course Name: Rock Climbing (climbing wall) Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: The rock climbing short course in Buenos Aires is on a climbing wall, having grips for hands and feet, and made of multiplex board with holes drilled therein. The lessons are held in Ateneo de la Juventud gym, which is located 2 blocks away from the student residence in Buenos Aires. Classes can be held Mon-Fri from 4 to 10PM. Schedule and estimated price are subject to change, please consult with front desk upon arrival for further details and reservation. Develop strength, agility and confidence in a fun and popular course!

Course Name: Flying Trapeze / Aerial Acrobatics Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: The course lasts 4 week, 2 lessons per week.  Each lessons lasts approx 2.30 hours and are held in the nighborhood of Palermo in the afternoon or evening. Are you ready to fly? Schedule and estimated price are subject to change, please consult with front desk upon arrival for further details and reservation.

Course Name: Photography Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: The photography school is located a couple of blocks away from our school. Analog and digital photography courses are offered in different levels such as: basic photography, lighting, portrait, social events, digital retouching, etc. Schedule and estimated price change every month, please consult with front desk upon arrival for further details and reservation. Develop your own personal style in one of our popular photography courses!

Course Name: Windsurfing Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: In this windsurfing course, you'll learn how to stand on a sailboard - typically 8 to 15 feet in length, with a single sail. Classes are held in 40 min away from downtown Buenos Aires by train.  Lessons are private with an instructor, they last one our and include all gear. Schedule and price are subject to change, please consult with front desk upon arrival for further details and reservation. Experience the thrill of sailing and surfing at the same time!

Course Name: DJ - Electronic Music Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: The DJ and Electronic Music course is held at the SONICA, Electronic Music Institute. The classes are composed of locals and international students alike, creating a diverse and unique atmosphere. The institute is located in upscale Belgrano a few blocks away from the Cabildo Avenue. Learn about sound recordings, playback devices, sound systems, mixers etc., as well as techniques used by DJs to manipulate the prerecorded music, including cueing, equalization and audio mixing of two or more sound sources, including beatmixing/beatmatching.

Come give superstar DJ Hernan Cattaneo some competition!

Course Name: Sea Kayaking Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: Learn the sport of sea kayaking - enjoy paddling on the open waters of the Rio de La Plata. Sea kayaks are small boats with a covered deck and the ability to include a spraydeck. Sea kayaks trade off the greater maneuverability of whitewater kayaks for greater cargo capacity, ease of straight-line paddling, and comfort.

Its a great way to get exercise, while touring the city and environs from the water!

Course Name: Scuba Certification Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: Don't you hate when you're on vacation and scuba diving is available - but you're not certified? Well, now's your chance. In order to earn your scuba certification, you'll participate in classroom sessions and practice essential diving and safety skills in a pool. Finally, you'll test your knowledge on a written exam and apply your skills during training dives in open water. Classes will learn with a scuba set that is an open circuit 2-stage diving regulator, coupled to a single pressurized gas cylinder.

Upon completion of this course, you'll receive a certification card that identifies you as a trained diver, allowing you to rent scuba equipment and explore diving destinations on that next beach vacation!

Course Name: Skydiving Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: Why not go for the ultimate skydiving experience and take a professional skydiving course? The accelerated freefall skydive will allow you to jump, on your own, from 2 miles high (with an experienced skydiving instructors by your side). Experience the thrill of the free-fall, followed by the peacefulness of riding under and steering your own parachute, and finally landing on your own on the ground.

There are four areas of skill that will be learned: basic safety, free fall maneuvers, parachute operation, and landing. Basic safety includes learning how and when to: do a gear check, exit normally, react in an emergency, deploy a parachute, handle common malfunctions, pick a landing area, and set up and execute a landing. In freefall most skydivers start by learning to maintain a stable belly to earth "box" position. In this position the average fall rate is around 120 mph.

So, kick those endorphins into high gear! (hey, you only live once, right?!)

Course Name: Kiteboarding (kitesurfing) Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: The course includes basic kite setup, operation, maintenance, size considerations, and types and operation of safety systems. Learning techniques include flying a small kite on a beach to learn how to control the kite within the wind window. The next progression in the course is bodydragging, followed by lying in the water and attaching the board to the feet and flying the kite left and right with its pull balanced against the board's resistance by matching the pressure with alternate legs.

Students will learn to then "surf" by flying the kite toward the water, with the board initially pointing downwind, with the student being pulled up out of the water as the board starts to plane. Students will learn to use their feet to edge steer the board across the wind and edge into the water, which has the effect of acting like a keel.

Advanced students will learn controlled flying. Before jumping, the kiteboarder builds up as much tension as possible by accelerating and strongly edging the board. Then in controlled, straight flight, the kite is flown quickly (snapped) to an overhead position, usually just as the surfer goes over a wave.

This is one of our more challenging (and exhilerating) courses!

Course Name: Theater - Improv Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: Improvisational theater or improv is a form of theater in which actors perform spontaneously without a script. Performances or scenes typically follow a general theme and format, often in response to audience suggestions. In all forms of improvisation, the actors invent the dialogue and action as they perform. The unpredictable nature of such a performance lends itself naturally to comedy, known as improvisational comedy. Improvisational theatre can also be dramatic. Improv classes focus on basic skills of listening, clarity, confidence, and performing instinctively and spontaneously.

With each spoken word or action in the scene, an actor makes an offer, meaning that he or she invents some element of the reality of the scene. It is the responsibility of the other actors to accept the offers that their fellow performers make; to not do so is known as blocking, which usually prevents the scene from developing. Accepting an offer is usually accompanied by adding a new offer, often building on the earlier one; this is a process improvisers refer to as "Yes, And..." and is considered the cornerstone of improvisational technique.

Come experience the creativity, flexible thinking, energy and fun of improv!

Course Name: Cooking Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: The traditional Argentine cooking program offers courses for both the novice and experienced chef and can be taken alone or combined with any of our other programs. Each course lasts 4 weeks and it includes tuition at a top cooking school in Buenos Aires, uniform, cooking supplies, recipes, and class notes. Cooking classes are taught in Spanish.

What better way to get to know Argentina, then through delicious food!

Course Name: Rowing - Sculling Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: Rowing is an excellent low-impact cardiovascular activity. This course is ideal for those looking for a new form of recreation and fitness. Beginner's rowing classes include basic safety and boat handling instruction, as well as basic rowing techniques. Advanced classes include additional on-water practice, structured training workouts on land and on the water, and a focus on racing strategies and readiness.

There are two forms of rowing: Sweep or Sweep-oar rowing, where each rower has one oar, held in both hands. In sweep boats each rower is referred to either as port or starboard. These designations refer to which side of the boat the rower's oar is on. Sculling where each rower has two oars, one in each hand.

Team building, fitness & endurance, and the joy of the open water - what more do you want?!

Course Name: Wakeboarding Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: Wakeboarding involves riding, on a single board, the wake of a speed boat designed to create larger wakes. The wakeboarder is towed behind a boat, or a cable skiing setup, but typically at slower speeds (16 - 23mph) than for water skiing. Beginners start at slower speeds such as 18mph with shorter ropes, whereas more experienced wakeboarders use longer ropes and slightly faster speeds of 21 - 23 mph. The wakeboarder rides a single board, the wakeboard, with stationary non-release bindings for each foot, standing sideways as on a snowboard or skateboard. Unlike snowboards, whose edges taper in towards the center, the edges of a wakeboard are widest in the middle of the board.

A wakeboarding boat is similar to a water ski boat except that the rope is normally mounted on a tower or a pole about 2 metres above the water line and the boat is also weighted and trimmed, with strategically placed large water ballasts tanks, to give a larger wake. It also tends to have the engine placed in rear of the boat rather than the middle. The wake is used as a ramp by the wakeboarder. Steering the board by a combination of edges into the water, the rider can move outside of the wake, then cut rapidly in toward the wake, hitting it and launching himself into the air (as the rope tightens the rider gains speed toward the wake - when the rider goes up and off the wake and into the air the tightened rope launches the rider). Beginners will focus on simply staying upright, whereas advanced course participants will learn to do grabs, spins, and other tricks in the air using the wake as a ramp.

Before you know it, you'll be doing whirleybirds, scarecrows, tootsie rolls and butter slides!

Course Name: Wine Tasting Location:  Buenos Aires   Schedule: inquire   Price: inquire

Description: Wine tasting is the sensory evaluation of wine, encompassing not only taste, but also mothfeel, aroma and color. The main aims of the wine tasting course are to learn how to: assess the wine's quality, determine the wine's maturity and suitability for aging or immediate drinking, detect the aromas and flavours of the wine, and discover the many facets of wine, so as to better appreciate it. Focus is on Argentinean wines, and will cover lesser-known malbec, torrontes and voignier wines, as well as more well known cabernets, chardonnays and the like.

To assess a wine's quality, course participants will gauge its complexity of aroma and flavour, determine the intensity of the aroma and flavour, check that the flavours and structural elements (such as acid, tannin and alcoholic strength) are well balanced, and finally see how long the wine persists in the mouth after tasting.

Advanced wine tasting classes will gauge the wine's quality in other ways too, including whether the wine is of high quality with respect to other wines of its price, region or vintage; if it is typical of the region it is made in or diverges in style; if it uses certain wine making techniques, such as barrel fermentation or maloactic fermentation, or if it has any wine faults.

This surely is one of the more delicious and fun ways to get to know Argentina!