As always the staff threw a wonderful welcome dinner for the students this semester at Buca Poldo Restaurante.  The dishes were exemplary and the students greatly enjoyed the whole meal, although many could not get through all the dishes. Following the Italian culture the meal was served in multiple courses, starting with the antipasto and ending with dessert. Although, it seemed like the students all got full by their second dish, or secondo, and when the waiters saw all these still full plates they joked with the students about the taste of the food. The conversations were definitely flowing through out the night, never a dull moment with such a wonderful group. Compared to last semester there is a significant influx of students, which is super exciting and the possibilities for this semester is endless. Already there was a somewhat informal welcome dinner at Zaza on move-in day, which was really just a thrown together dinner by some of the returning students. The dinner was really a way to show the new students the best, and less expensive, Italian meal and to start getting to know everyone. That one dinner really let the students warm up to each other and by the time of the SRISA welcome dinner everyone was quite comfortable with each other which let the students socialize without that awkward new kid syndrome.