underneath it all

Sunday seemed like the perfect rainy day for a field trip, and being a physical therapist, R was really keen on checking out the Bodies Exhibition in downtown. I'd heard a little bit about the exhibit, and so was interested to see it as well.

When we got there, the line for tickets was wrapped along the outside of the building. I thought to myself, "that really can't be for the bodies thing. I mean, is it really that popular of an attraction?" Apparently so. The trick to getting in is to call Ticketmaster and order your tickets over the phone for will call. Someone in line gave us that tip and we had our tickets purchased and were inside within 15 minutes, as opposed to the 45 minute wait we were told for the line outside.

Once inside, we sped up the stairs to find room after room of preserved cadavers and body parts. Normally I would think this was absolutely disgusting, but on the contrary, I was completely fascinated.

Each exhibit room dedicated to a functional area of the human body: bones, then muscles, nerves and arteries, internal organs and diseased organs, the brain, and the skin.

As we passed through each room, I was continually amazed at the complexity of our bodies. Hardly believing that this was actually what was underneath my own skin. Even the trivia was surprising. Did you know that children grow faster in the springtime? Or that babies have 300 bones while adults have 206?

I can't even imagine how much time was spent putting together each display. In the process of preserving each organ, muscle and bone, in some cases to accentuate the miniscule details, they use vibrant dye to show the tiniest blood vessel. The room with the heart was amazing. Encased in liquid in brilliant blue and red, you could see the intricate nature of the arteries and veins. It was really beautiful.

Another fascinating room held the display of the embryonic and fetal stages. Unbelievable to see what an embryo looks like at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks and so on through the complete gestation. It also made me realize how incredibly lucky we all are to have turned out physically normal when there are so many things that can go wrong early on in the development of our bodies.

Walking out of there, my knees and joints felt achy. Boy if there is anything that makes you want to exercise and take care of your body, it's definitely this experience. I ended up buying a great pictorial book on diseases and conditions -- explanatory and graphical pages to help me better self diagnose my "ailments." :)

It was also a treat to have R provide additional insight to how certain things work. Hearing him talk about his work with stroke patients, amputees, and other physically-challenged people gave me a greater appreciation for his passion for what he does. Man, I wish my Biology 101 classes in high school and college were like this. I might have actually done better.