In Burkina Faso if you go with your friends to eat lunch at a half-sheltered hut restaurant, you may find that the waiter seats you at a table next door in a motorcycle mechanic's shop. Relax and take in the delicate ambience of the dining experience as the mechanic loudly revs a motorcycle engine. You'll find that the engine exhaust complements the tanginess of the meat sauce on your couscous.

If you decide to turn in early and catch some Z's, you may find yourself clutching your bedsheets, eyes wide open, listening to the weirdest sound you've ever heard. It's coming from your neighbor's yard just over the wall. You'll wonder whether the animal making the sound is giving birth, being waterboarded, or slowly dying in a pool of its own blood. The piercing sound will penetrate your earplugs and continue non-stop for an hour. You'll find out the next day in class that this sound is actually a donkey crying. Who knows why a donkey would cry. Maybe somebody forgot his birthday. Also, you'll hear roosters crowing randomly at 3AM.

When you sit down to eat dinner in the courtyard with your host family, you'll find a meal called "to," (pronounced "toe") which is a white, starchy tofu-like substance. You're supposed to tear off pieces and make holes with your fingers to scoop up the meat sauce, but your host family holds back laughter as you fumble with your food. Kind of like using chopsticks for the first time. Don't be surprised if the power goes out and you can't eat. Then you may have the bright idea to bring out your fancy AA-powered lantern. When you do, a swarm of stinkbugs and beetles will invade your food as they fly towards the light.

Then when the power comes back on, you will join your family in watching a Burkinabe soap opera called "Celibatorium," which roughly translates to "People who are single - orium." Now it's your turn to hold back laughter at a production that could easily be featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000 for its shoddy production and acting. The plot centers around a sketchy white aid-worker running away during his dinner date with a Burkinabe woman. When you find yourself watching "Woody the Woodpecker," you'll find that the most important things in life transcend culture. Everytime you hear Woody the Woodpecker's signature laugh, you'll feel like you're home.