Bodies - The Exhibition

I didn't know how I'd react, but I predicted that I would be
somewhat grossed out, but interested. That's exactly what
happened when I went to see the Bodies exhibit by South Street
Seaport this past Saturday.

The place was already begining to fill by the time we came
which was about 10:30 am. I didn't expect to see any young
children, but there were a few there. The rooms had full bodies,
posed - each to show you something different. They were
skinless, and stripped down and dissected to show you
muscles, bone, organs, etc... In further detail, they showed
organs or parts of the body in glass cases accompanied by a
short paragraph. Each room focused on different things. They
had this one room totally dedicated to nerve endings. It looked
like a sweater, that's how many nerves are inside, it's amazing.
When it came to organs showing tumors, I was especially
disturbed, mostly because I get paranoid...the breast cancer
was not pleasant.

The most interesting part (to me) was the babies. Yes, babies.
There was a disclaimer telling anyone to exit if need be, but I
walked right in and found that room to be the most amazing.
They had a pair of siamese twins that didn't make it, they were
joined by the stomach. They had a baby with a spinal defect, but
besides those, there was nothing really disturbing in there. They
had little embryo's, 6 weeks, 9 weeks, 15 weeks - so amazing
how you could track the growth and the developement. They
had other embryo's with some sort of dye used to differentiate
the tiny bones. I glanced over to my side and saw a pregnant
woman looking at one. They had a woman cut open and you
can see the little infant inside...truly a sight to see.

The next rooms had cross section after cross section and
bodies sliced in half. It was in-your-face and you couldn't avoid
it. After each room, I increasingly was looking for the end of the
exhibit, as there are only so much "Bodies" I could take. At the
end you are able to hold a heart, brain, liver...but as you can
guess, I opted not to.

In the end I am happy I went. I understand more about
what's inside me and am even more amazed about the many
functions the many organs have inside. It's a once in a lifetime
thing, and you get a view that only doctors or people who do
autopsies have. You'll lose your appetite for a day, but it's well worth it.

Oh how wonderfully we are made!