Cambodia is FABULOUS.

We flew into Siem Reap early yesterday morning, and there's just something about this place - it's like what you read about in travel books (not of the Lonely Planet variety) and what you imagine when you think of "authentic" travel. Our tuk tuk driver picked us up from the airport and took us to The Treehouse where we'll be staying for the next five days. I thought it was really a treehouse, but it's just a two-story villa. It's rented by (appropriately enough) The Villas, a hotel in downtown Siem Riep. We dropped our stuff and took a short nap - we had to get up at 2:30 a.m. to go to the airport - and then headed to the Cambodia Orphanage Fund. We spent the afternoon at a tiny, two-room orphanage painting and playing with the children between the ages of about 3 and 13. It was so fun but sad at the same time. Some of the children are so smart; if given a chance, they could go so far. There were a handful of young volunteers from all over - Germany, Australia, Israel - that are there anywhere from two weeks to six months. The Villas sets up the art program and then sells the paintings in the hotel lobby to buy more supplies. It was such a great day, one that I'll never forget.

I keep reading my NYTimes emails about the crappy job market and job losses continuing into 2009. Maybe I'll forget about finding a job and just stay here. It'd be a much more satisfying life I imagine.