Bodyworlds: A mix of the macabe and educational

This weekend, Michael, Katie, Ben, Mark, Jeff and I cruised down to Chicago to check out Bodyworlds 2 exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.

For some it might be considered a bit morbid and macabre -- after all, people have agreed to donate their bodies to have their organs and bodies preserved in plastic for people to look at. It's also in a weird way, a reminder that no matter what, our lives will end and our bodies will remain here (which brings up interesting discussions about what to do after we die -- organ donation, burial,cremation, donation to science, etc.).

Anyways, I found it fascinating. What was most interesting was seeing the effects disease has on our bodies. A lung infected with coal miner's lung was black and shiny -- like coal itself. The line "inside a fat person is a skinny person screaming to get out," was beautifully illustrated with a side slide of a man who was obese when he died. You couldn't see the organs at all -- just a faint outline of where a person would be buried in all the fat.

Note to self: Get some fucking exercise.

Before we went, I was wondering if they would have babies or a pregnant woman on display. Tucked away in a room was a woman who had lung disease and died while she was five months pregnant, along with fetuses. While I felt bad and logically I knew that the baby wouldn't have survived outside of the womb, it was also interesting to see where the baby was located in the body. It gave me an idea where my baby's currently nestled, as well as an idea as to how big she is. Even though the baby books have illustrations and descriptions, seeing it in 3-D gave me a better idea than before.

Afterwards, we headed to Chinatown for a feast -- which was pretty good, even though we didn't get a chance to eat at Joy Yeh's Noodle Shop -- and then drove home. All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend Easter weekend.

Note to Keidra: Sorry we couldn't meet up, but I hope your Easter was good and you're feeling better!