Feeling a little overwhelmed by the smell of formalin...

First lecture for Human Anatomy this morning, which was followed up by a tour of the dissection hall and anatomy museum in school. Finally, a chance to explore the mysteries that lie behind those doors, heh. Well, I got to see and TOUCH a cadaver (a few, rather) in the dissection hall... All in the name of education, there's nothing to laugh at or be grossed out by them, but right now the memory of the formalin smell just churns my stomach a wee bit... Urk.

We were brought up to the museum after that. They have specimens of the different parts of the body, all preserved and displayed in a variety of styles to give a complete-as-possible overview of the human body... And in a corner section, I saw the cyclops foetus that my friend had told me about, amongst other deformed babies that never (or could never have) made it through a full gestation. Some had their internal organs growing outside of their torso, others developed into (I hesitate to even describe this..) near frog-like forms... There was one baby who looked so perfect, from its eyes to hands...it even had a mop of hair. But it was missing the entire lower half of its body.. I wonder if it died soon after it was born, it was far too large to be safely aborted, unlike the others.. It IS disturbing to see foetuses so deformed, and it filled me with sadness... I shudder to think of those who come in to view these babies as but a mere freak show... A girl beside me jabbed a finger at the plastic case and commented to her friend, "Eeee, like frog like that.". You know, you don't really need to be dead crazy over babies and children to feel a semblence of grief when looking at those 'specimens'. I'm not.

Watched Extreme Makeovers last night. Ok, plastic surgery does a few wonders, I'll admit to that. But these ppl aren't exactly Freddy Krueger to begin with - and to hear them gush (with tears in their eyes) that "OMG, I never thought this could happen to me... I feel like I'm in a dream... there has to be some wonderful reason why I'm given this opportunity... there has to be... things like that don't just happen to me... yadda yadda..." (Sheesh. Americans.) So you had your brows lifted, chin flab removed, cheeks filled up with the fat from your abdomen, liposuction, your larger-than-life nose turned pixie cute, and the all-time necessity for all the female subjects - The miracle boob job. But really. After 7 hours of intensive plasticking of your unsightly features, you get wheeled out of the operating room LOOKING like Freddy Krueger. And the reality series never showcases the recovery period. It's just a short clip of the unwrapping of bandages at the end of 3(?) weeks and then it's on to "getting a new haircut and wardrobe! Whee!". It'd be interesting to find out 10 years from now, how much the quality of their lives have improved after their 'marvellous start to a new life'. Don't get me wrong, I'm not pointing a laughing finger at them - but what really counts at the end of it all?

Worship pract at 4pm later. Looking forward to it, and then will be going to the airport to pick up Uncle Bryan together with my mum. Hope I'll be able to join Sheep and Polar Bear at the Bodyworlds exhibit tmrw in view of the yet-undecided schedule to show him around the island before he leaves on Wed...!