Body-rific
Mon Nov 27, 2006 19:45 (UTC -5)Today was the field trip to Bodies: The Exhibition. I haven’t been on a field trip in a while, so it was nice to have. I’d actually only been on two other field trips in high school — one as a freshman and one as a sophomore. I guess this was my last.
But enough of that. For some background, Bodies: The Exhibition is an exhibition of real, dissected human bodies. Well, it turns out that they’re not really real, but they used to be. This particular preservation process replaces the bodies’ cells with some kind of plastic, leading to plastic but realistic-looking dissected people. So you could say that they’re preserved permanently.
The school is making at least three trips to the exhibition. One was last week, one was today, and one will be next week. On today’s trip, there was a whole busload of people, and I imagine that the other trips are/were equally booked. I expected to bump into at least a few people I knew, and I did happen to find a few people I knew who were going on the trip, so I hung out with them. We had to split into groups because we were supposed to answer some questions whose answers could be found in the exhibits.
It took a little while to get to the exhibit, which was in some kind of mall or shopping center in South Miami. It really didn’t take that long to get to Miami because I-95 can take you all the way there. Before I went on day trips to Miami, I used to believe everyone’s grumbling about Miami being six light-years away. It really isn’t so. You can get there in about 45 minutes. South Miami isn’t much farther, but you have to go slower because I-95 ends along the way.
When we got there, it was raining a bit, but that wasn’t much of a problem because we were going to be inside. We got into our groups and, after a while, they had the typical tour-guide-type guy deliver us a verbose, worn-out introduction to the exhibit, including the typical bit to turn off “cellular phones,” and “those cellular phones which are capable of recording video, and other cameras or video equipment.” However, the guy was helpful in explaining where the bodies actually came from. He said that they were unclaimed bodies from China (the People’s Republic of China, in case there was any doubt).
After that, our groups were free to go through the exhibit and answer the questions on our worksheets. There were lots of things to behold: bones, blood vessels, brains, hearts, lungs, muscles, and more. There were fetuses, too. But of course, the real hallmarks of the exhibition were the bodies. They were dissected, showing the muscles and some organs, and they were cut and posed in various ways to emphasize certain bodily systems or characteristics. For example, one body was cut into transverse sections (stacks) and laid out to show how an MRI scanner views the body (or was it CT? or either?). A few were cut in half. But most were in one piece.
My Anatomy and Physiology teacher, who went on last week’s trip, said that she didn’t feel any emotional attachment or empathy for these things that were once really human bodies. However, she dismissed it as an occupational hazard, if you will, of having been a doctor. But looking at the bodies with their fake eyes (the tour guide guy said that the eyes were the only organs that couldn’t be preserved), it was hard to imagine that they were once everyday people like you and me (except they were in Red China, where museum exhibits look at YOU!).
We got out of the exhibit pretty quickly, it seemed, and I figured out why: after we had gone through, we were allowed to go around the mall and do anything we wanted until it came time for us to go back to the bus and leave. I stuck with my group; even though I didn’t know them that well, they were the only people I did know. I had thought that I would want to go around by myself, but I figured it would be too depressing, and I wouldn’t know what to do with my time besides eat. After going to some stores, we went to Wendy’s to have lunch, and then it was pretty much time to go.
When we got back to school, the day was almost over. I’m glad it passed quickly for me. Plus, I got to learn a thing or two about the amazing human body. I also learned that fast-food restaurants can have exceptionally poor service when they’re busy. (Come on! I ordered the jalapeño melt for here, not the bacon melt to go.)
Presidential speeches meet tag clouds. It’s so Web 2.0! Need I say more? (Actually, yes: it’s a slow load.)
Hey, it’s another Top 10. Now those aren’t tired clichés. Good pictures in this one, though: 10 Most Impressive Photos of Our Universe.
One year ago: “Tomorrow I’m going to go for the full 14 minutes.”
Two years ago: “The winning photos will be announced Wednesday, December 1. Cross your fingers for me!”
Three years ago: “Announcing The World of Stuff’s latest upcoming addition, The Bill Factor Project!”
