Dal's women's basketball team is on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to take on some of the country's club teams. Ainsley MacIntyre (third year, Science) and Diedre Alexander (first year, Arts) will document the Tigers experience during their trip.
Monday, September 1
by Ainsley MacIntyre
Our tour guide Uli, an old friend of Coach Anna, showed us the beautiful city of Wolfenb眉ettel this morning. A library which houses one of the oldest books in the world, and a castle which serves dual use as a museum and a high school were among the main attractions on our walking tour.
The Bible which is oldest book housed in the library has a value of 30 million dollars. It is kept in a separate room with very little light and a cool temperature in order to be maintained in good condition. Anna Vorwerk founded the school for young girls. She also built housing specifically for the elderly teachers of the school. This provided teachers that were not married with housing as they did not have such things as pensions after they retired.
This evening we fell to Wolfenb眉ettel Wolfpack 75-50. Courtney Thompson was the top scorer with 22 points. We are back in action tomorrow versus Braunschweig, a city 15 km from Wolfenb眉ettel.
Tuesday, September 2
by Diedre Alexander
One of the goals of this trip is for us to bond as a team; therefore, part of the afternoon was dedicated to team-building activities. It started with a rather competitive game of "Heads Up," in which some proved to be good at the charade, and some... not so much. The group games proved to be extremely entertaining to play, and maybe even more entertaining to observe.
In the afternoon the team took the train to Braunschweig for a tour of the city. The most eye catching building was the Braunschweiger Schloss, the front of the shopping centre rebuilt to resemble the residence of the Braunschweig Dukes from 1753-1918. Also very extravagant is the rebuilt Braunschweig Cathedral. Originally built by King Henry the Lion between 1173 and 1195, the church stands tall and spacious as a portrayal of the King's power. He, however, did not live to see its completion and instead found his grave within the church. Perhaps the most mesmerizing sight thus far was the Cathedral ceiling that boasted seemingly endless murals that added to the already breathtaking Cathedral structure.
The last spot on the tour was a small plaque in front of the Braunschweiger Schloss. On it was the quotation by Heinrich Heine written in 1821: "Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings."
His words stood as a prophecy of events to come. On the exact spot the Nazi Party burned thousands of books belonging to the Socialist Party, books by Jewish authors, and any other literature that was disfavoured by the Nazis. And just as the words of Heine predicted, eventually people would experienced the same fate at the hands of the Nazis. The small plaque, easily unnoticeable to the unfamiliar eye, had in so few words made an impact of a lifetime. To imagine the burning of books is terrible; the burning of people is unfathomable.
That night the Tigers lost a hard fought game against Braunschweig by a score of 58-50. Courtney Thompson had 20 points, and Ainsley MacIntyre added eight.
Wednesday, September 3
by Ainsley MacIntyre
We departed for Berlin after visiting a market in Wolfenb眉ettel town square early this morning. Our journey to Berlin consisted of an hour and a half train ride, followed by a street car, a subway and a bus. We finally arrived at our destination just after lunch. We decided to try something other than Italian for our pre-game meal and ate at a local Greek restaurant.
This evening we played a local Berlin club team and it was a nail-bitter! Late in the fourth quarter, we were down by 1 point after Berlin went on a quick run. Tessa inbounded the ball to Courtney with 5 seconds left and Courtney found Tessa who got the shot off with 1 second left on the clock. The Tigers came away with the win 67-65 after Tessa hit the buzzer beater! Tessa Stammberger led the charge with 27 points.
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