Sunday, January 27, 2008

I saw dead people

You could say growing up (well even now) I'm not your typical girly-girl. My favorite and most memorable presents from when I was little were the following:
dissection kits, microscopes, the human anatomy coloring book, models of the human body (think car models little boys would but together but of the body), anatomy pop-up books etc. (some of these I still have).

On top of the awesome presents some of my favorite memories are: after turtle hunting (ha, I can only image the thoughts running threw peoples minds right now) I had the heart in my hand which was still beating, and wondered if I froze it then defrosted it would it still beat...it didn't and I was crushed. Another is salting the skin of a black bear my dad had shot on a hunting trip. (This bear is still part of the family). Skinning muskrats in our basement. And of course cutting anything open that I could find...especially worms and fish. I can't forget seeing Gross Anatomy for the first time.

So yesterday Victoria and I went to see Body Worlds in San Jose. I was in my glory, a kid in a candy shop you could say. I don't even know if words can explain my excitement of seeing real dead bodies in front of me cut open and on display. I got to see embryos at all different states (this blew my mind). At eight weeks you can see their little fingers and toes. I saw a woman who was pregnant with her stomach opened so you could see the fetus. Loved the organs separated from the body. One of the first things we saw was a full skeletal system and right next to it was the was the muscles to the same skeleton! It's truly amazing what they can pull off. I could go on forever but don't want to give to much away in case you all go and see it at some point. Two sad parts...couldn't take pictures and couldn't touch anything. It was amazing.

I walked out of there and thought, why the heck did I screw off so badly back in school and not pursue my dream of working in the medical field??

In May it will be down in L.A. for a few months...I plan to go again :)

If you get a chance check out the website here

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

Ew. I couldn't do it. Missy and Ginny have both gone, and enjoyed it, but I couldn't do it when it was in Boston. I'm glad you liked it, though! :) My brave friend!

Sara said...

You are crazy - ahhhh but that's my sister and the heart story I can testify is very true. For all you other readers - she wasn't a freak just a very curious child haha. Oh and Jen you are still young what the heck are you waiting for????