Figure 1 (above) shows the normal anatomic position of the kidneys within a male body.  Notice the two long tubes connecting the kidneys to the bladder.  These are called the ureters.  Each ureter drains urine from the kidney to the bladder.

Figure 2 (above) shows a cross section through a normal adult kidney.  The red tubes represent arteries and the blue tubes represent veins.  The kidneys are extremely vascular organs filtering about 1.5 liters of blood a minute.  That means, in a five minute period your kidneys are processing approximately 2 gallons of blood.  The kidneys are vital organs.  Without them your body would not be able to get rid of toxic substances that are constantly being produced by the body.  Fortunately one kidney can do the job of two kidneys.  In fact some people are born with only one kidney and never realize it for their entire lives.