Bodyworlds 3- Story of the Heart

Given my fascination with the human body, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I've been dying to see this exhibit since it came to Utah in September. Since admission is over $20 each, I decided not to bring the kids along.

Finally, on the day after Christmas, we got our chance. My mother in law agreed to babysit all four kids so J and I could go. We decided to take Trax because the roads were still icy from all the snow we've been getting. I love to people watch, so taking the train is always enjoyable to me. There were some teenagers on the train who were trying very hard to look tough and angsty. I hope I wasn't such a dork when I was their age, but I'm sure I came close. They had half smoked cigarettes in their mouths, unlit. One of them managed to drop his, and it slipped into a crack. They were trying to dig it out, but no luck. It was all I could do to not laugh out loud at them.

We got to the exhibit, and it was crazy busy. We bought tickets ($22 each, plus a dollar service charge, how lame is THAT?!), and then proceeded to wait in line for an hour and fifteen minutes to get in. I hate lines, but they assured us that it prevented the exhibit from being overcrowded. I'm sure it did help. There was a giant skeleton projected on the wall, and you could text a phone number, and your text would appear as a word bubble coming out of the skeleton's mouth. J texted "is my coccyx showing?" which I thought was pretty cute and funny. He also texted "I see dead people".

We finally got into the exhibit. It would've been better if about half of the people who were there weren't. Having said that, it was incredibly interesting. J had gone along to be a supportive husband, but admitted afterwards that he found the whole thing fascinating and was really glad he went.

One of the most interesting exhibits was the lungs. It showed the lungs of a non-smoker, the lungs of a smoker, the lungs of a smoker with cancer, and lungs with emphysema. I knew on paper what emphysema was, but to see these lungs with big holes in them was really sobering. Next to the lungs, they had information on quitting, and even a place where people could throw away their cartons of cigarettes right then and there.

I would highly recommend the exhibit, but with the caveat to try and go during a low crowd time.