A Fiesta and Some Bodies

on Monday, January 14, 2008

That pretty much sums up my weekend!

On Saturday, John and I went to a Mexican-themed Fiesta at Eric and Lisa's house up in Russell. We weren't exactly sure what to expect...but we had an absolute blast! There was fabulous, authentic homemade Mexican food (Eric's chimichangas were to die for!), yummy Mexican drinks (can you say margaritas!?!), and lots of great fun and conversation. The funniest part of the night was definitely when several people decided it would be a good idea to eat jabeneros...crazy! We were also very excited to watch the Pats defeat the Jaguars in the NFL Playoffs...next up is San Diego. Dad wants to watch the game with us (he is a big SD fan) but I don't want to listen to him cry like a little girl when the Pats roll right over them! Anyway, here are a couple of pics of us at the Fiesta. Oh, and John and I enjoyed ourselves so much at the party that we've decided to throw our own Mexican Fiesta in the near future. Watch out for the invite!


On Sunday, my mom, the Chris's and I went to "Bodies Revealed: Fascinating and Real" at the Hartford Civic Center. Holy freak show! It's real humans, dissected and preserved and on display for all to see.

The way the exhibit is set up, it eases you into the freak show...first you start looking at bones, and who hasn't seen bones before? Then you move into muscles and ligaments...this is where things start getting creepy. They have basically every section of the body on display separately and then they have whole people just out in the open! Super bizarro! They looked fake, but then you'd see something, like an eyebrow or an ear, and it would remind you that you are looking at a real person! Someone that, not too long ago, was walking around just like you and me. Eek!

After that, you get more into the inner-workings of the body...veins and arteries, ligaments, and organs. I especially enjoyed the displays where they showed normal versus diseased organs. Definitely reinforced my desire to take the absolute best care of myself possible! I also enjoyed the fact that next to the diseased lung display they had a box for smokers to drop their cigarettes in. Quit people! They certainly left nothing to the imagination...every organ in your body, even reproductive organs, were on full display.

For me, the most fascinating display was the fetus room, where they showed fetuses in the different stages of development. The whole concept of pregnancy is just mind blowing. The body's ability to combine elements from one man and one woman and create another life is just beyond comprehension. I can't even begin to imagine what that is going to feel like. I have to admit, though, that while looking at the fetuses, I couldn't help but picture those little bodies inside my belly, growing, moving, living...it kind of freaked me out! Even my little brother was like "freaked out to have kids, huh?".

Overall, it was an amazingly interesting and quite fascinating experience. Bodies are truly the most amazing and sophisticated system in existence. The way that every part and system works together in unison to keep us alive and well is just incredible. And it is amazing that all the different parts and organs, which basically look like slimy blobs, perform the most complicated and intricate functions. This experience definitely gave me a new appreciation and a new perspective on my body. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the exhibit, but here are a few that I snapped before entering.