06.08.2015
Volunteer expedition
The cultural association “New Acropolis”, which has been engaged in cultural, educational, environmental and volunteer activities for almost thirty years, is organizing a volunteer expedition from July 25 to August 9 to participate in the implementation of the historical and educational project Archaeological Park “Kozhzhokh Dolmens”.
Media representatives wishing to take part in covering the work of the expedition are asked to contact the expedition leaders:
– Vadim Karelin, tel.: 8-917-841-04-17
- Anton Abrosimov, tel.: 8-916-180-86-87
- Maria Burla, tel.: 8-906-731-24-03
You can follow the news of the expedition on this page
The first day
We are in Adygea. We don’t fully know our coordinates, but dolmens are around us;) And excavation work has begun.
The camp will be set up between giant oak trees, as big as a Totoro tree. There was water in a huge blue pool, a tent, a shower and much, much more, without which it is difficult to imagine the expedition. Having built a dam, we got a sandy creek on the Sredny Khadzhokh stream.
And dinner was very tasty and acorns were falling.
A camp com a camp!
Second day
News from the Adygei Shire.
We woke up with the dawn at 5 am ;) to get a lot done - in the end we completed the weekly plan. A hang glider hovered above us. Local television came and filmed our work (three cleared dolmens).
Further exciting journey to
Rufabgo waterfalls and the Khadzhokh Gorge made us late for dinner, but we did not cancel the evening theatrical performance.
Day three
“I spend all my free time in the water” (“Peter Fm”). Today it's about us.
While the work on clearing the dolmens was going on, the temperature was +30, and it was raining during the excursions. The fighting spirit of the Akropolitans cannot be broken: hiding from the rain, we sang songs, talked, and got to know each other better. We met a photogenic lizard.
Day four
On the fourth day, things didn't go according to plan. Since our tents were washed away, we took a day off. And it was wonderful!
The most important victory of the day - we climbed to the top of the nearest mountain! We lay on a slope among ancient oak trees and did not want to return. We hope that the photo with a beautiful view of the Caucasus Mountains will get the most likes;)
We got to know Adygea and its deep traditions better. “Having drunk the water, imbibed with the local air, you no longer became guests, but family,” as our guest today, a writer, traveler and scientist, said.
Day five
Even the most notorious sleepyheads got up for morning yoga and qigong after a soulful performance of a song from Midshipmen by our charismatic attendant. Cheers could be heard from the tents. We are looking forward to tomorrow's wake-up call;)
Fate gave us another amazing place, near the Belaya River: coolness, mighty trees, large stone cliffs. There we spent wonderful moments of silence, as well as diving from high boulders and swimming.
Day six
Today we escorted some of the guys from the first shift home; we really didn’t want to leave. As a result, in a week of joint work, 10 dolmens were cleared! Hooray! From long-term communication with stones, we ourselves became dolmens;)
Yesterday we built part of the stairs to pass through the ravine, held a series of wonderful master classes, made sprinklers and poured water on them;)
And in the evening, after the official part, we danced and had a blast!
Day seven
It was the seventh day of the expedition, the Adyghe hobbits tirelessly continued to look for adventures...
We jumped into a mountain river, rode horses, met with archaeological scientists, visited the Lago-Naki cave, and talked about true friendship, love, and purpose until late at night.
We are expecting the second shift: friends from St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Moscow and Kaliningrad. Welcome with watermelons! In honor of the guys, tomorrow there is a festive wake-up at 6 am, instead of the usual five;)
Day eight
Day eight. The second shift has arrived.
“Nothing!” is the only correct answer to the question “What do we know about Dolmens?” With this phrase the transfer of experience to the second shift began.
We accepted a camp equipped with the latest technology;) we were taught how to find dolmens in the thickets and how to use pruners and trimmers to clear dolmen hills from grass and bushes. We got inspired and cleaned another dolmen. There are a lot of us;)
In the evening, to get to know each other better, they delighted each other by playing crocodile: they showed poetic sketches on the theme of mountains.
With renewed vigor, we are ready to get to work. Good morning!
Day nine
The second shift got to work. It was amazing how a hillock, overgrown with blackberries and crowned with a hawthorn tree, was transformed into a dolmen in 2 hours by the efforts of 20 people.
Several groups went to Tesniny. Reflecting on the meaning behind this name, it is difficult not to be amazed by the power of the river, carving its path through ancient rocks. Despite its strength and power, the river brings peace and harmony.
On the way back we managed to touch the national Adyghe spirit; we listened to an Adyghe song about love for the homeland. The piercing and deep language evokes a feeling of respect.
Over the evening, around the fire, we, according to tradition, shared our impressions and experiences. The discovery of our day was the understanding of one of the eternal values - the value of a real person, a friend working next to you.
Day ten
“Do good and throw it into the water” (Adyghe wisdom)
In the midst of the heat, scorched by the burning sun, we turned to poetry. We were inspired by Pasternak and Pushkin, campfire songs, songs about frost and winter. How pleasant it will be to remember these songs in a couple of months, sitting in snowy cities, in different branches of the same school “New Acropolis”.
The trip to the waterfalls hit us with the flow of a refreshing mountain river. So we learned what else we could bring down on our heads. Towards the end of our journey, a watermelon and a melon appeared - the 8th and 9th Wonder of the World. We bathed under the thunder with special pleasure.
In the morning we set ourselves a task: to answer the question “Why am I here?”
In the evening, around the fire, someone shared his thoughts:
“The example of a good person who devotes his life to preserving cultural heritage is worth responding to and helping.” Igor Petrovich Ogai became such an example for us. Even a short acquaintance with it inspires you to dive into the thorny thickets of blackberries and gives you hope that this region will soon become a dolmen park under the protection of UNESCO.
A special highlight of the stay was contemplating the night sky. We lay down with our friends like a star in a field and looked at the stars - this is how the sky saw us off to a new day.
And one of our volunteer poets gave everyone a poem:
We continue to open
Dolmens for the world to see,
Things are going wrong
With pruning shears in hand.
Blackberry, elderberry, nettle
They leave a chronicle
On the skin and in the hearts!
Day eleven
During the work, we realized what a dolmen is - an unidentified lying object (UFO). Do you know how to recognize that there is a dolmen in front of you?
We determine this by three main criteria:
1. Most often this is a hill (mound);
2. There are usually large pebbles around;
3. And in the center there are large, unnaturally processed megaliths.
As in previous days, we admired Igor Petrovich, an enthusiast with a burning heart, inspiring us every day to achieve feats.
“Many things in the world come and go, but dolmens were there 5 thousand years ago and should remain.”
(c) Igor Petrovich Ogai
At the beginning of the day, we set ourselves the task of answering the question: “What am I learning?” And during the day we realized that being in the bosom of nature, we learn to be here and now, and learn true generosity from nature.
After the nightly campfire we had a tour of the starry sky. We delved into the symbolic and mythical meaning of the constellations.
Filled with a state of gratitude, we ended the day.
Day twelve
On this day, work continued on the dolmens. Here and there cheerful voices, poems, songs, and epics were heard. In the morning, the dolmens began to inspire us for the evening of Heroic poetry, and in the afternoon we had master classes. We brought out the best in each other:
made whistles from clay (“Ethnic whistles”),
set goals for the future (“Time is in captivity”),
imbued with the spirit of poetry (“How to read poetry”),
learned how not to fall from a tree while tied with ropes (“Basics of Industrial Mountaineering”),
made wonderful sketches in watercolor and pencil (“Graphics”, “Plein air”).
We saw how a person reveals himself in a new way through creativity.
And in the evening we were imbued with heroism, witnessed the tragic story of Hector from the Iliad, listened to the Russian epic about Ilya Muromets, sent Parsifal in search of the Grail and descended into the kingdom of the dead with Gilgamesh.
The phrase that everyone agreed on best describes the end of the day:
“I love the fire not for the fire, but for the close circle of friends.”
Day thirteen
On the last working day, we worked for only 2 hours, waiting for the promised surprises from Igor Petrovich.
Having completed the work, we decided to look at the fruits of the labors of two shifts, walking through all the heroic huts (as the Cossacks called dolmens).
As the acting prosecutor of the Republic of Adygea (?) later said:
“I think you will be pioneers. You showed that you can do good for free.”
And the second surprise (after 101 watermelons) from Igor Petrovich was a trip to the monastery of St. Michael the Athos Hermitage.
One of the expedition participants commented on this trip as follows: “I was struck by the openness of Father Mikhail, who gave us a tour of the monastery. He showed us, ordinary tourists, all the most valuable things for the brethren: the temple, the hall for services in which only brothers pray, and icons from Athos.”
Igor Petrovich gave us a tour of the Museum of Paleontology. The collection collected by the brothers of the monastery amazes with its scale and beauty. Giant ammonites (these are ancient predatory snails), mother-of-pearl shells and balls of rare stones - everything could be touched and studied.
On the way to the camp, we learned what the fifth dimension is, crammed into a 24-seat bus with the whole group of 50 people. As always, we solved any difficulties that arose with enthusiasm and songs.
We reached the camp, where after dinner a sweet surprise awaited us and a ceremony of presenting letters of gratitude by Igor Petrovich Ogai.
At the farewell bonfire “Sing Me More,” we continued to share the best in us. In groups and individually, we sang songs, read poems, marveled at magic tricks, looked at the fire and thanked each other for the wonderful days of the expedition.
“An expedition is a kind of path to a dream. She has the ability to change and reveal people. I am grateful to the expedition for creating fertile ground for bringing out the best in us.”
“The camp has become a dolmen that you want to return to.”
The cultural association “New Acropolis”, which has been engaged in cultural, educational, environmental and volunteer activities for almost thirty years, is organizing a volunteer expedition from July 25 to August 9 to participate in the implementation of the historical and educational project Archaeological Park “Kozhzhokh Dolmens”.
Media representatives wishing to take part in covering the work of the expedition are asked to contact the expedition leaders:
– Vadim Karelin, tel.: 8-917-841-04-17
- Anton Abrosimov, tel.: 8-916-180-86-87
- Maria Burla, tel.: 8-906-731-24-03
You can follow the news of the expedition on this page
The first day
We are in Adygea. We don’t fully know our coordinates, but dolmens are around us;) And excavation work has begun.
The camp will be set up between giant oak trees, as big as a Totoro tree. There was water in a huge blue pool, a tent, a shower and much, much more, without which it is difficult to imagine the expedition. Having built a dam, we got a sandy creek on the Sredny Khadzhokh stream.
And dinner was very tasty and acorns were falling.
A camp com a camp!
Second day
News from the Adygei Shire.
We woke up with the dawn at 5 am ;) to get a lot done - in the end we completed the weekly plan. A hang glider hovered above us. Local television came and filmed our work (three cleared dolmens).
Further exciting journey to
Rufabgo waterfalls and the Khadzhokh Gorge made us late for dinner, but we did not cancel the evening theatrical performance.
Day three
“I spend all my free time in the water” (“Peter Fm”). Today it's about us.
While the work on clearing the dolmens was going on, the temperature was +30, and it was raining during the excursions. The fighting spirit of the Akropolitans cannot be broken: hiding from the rain, we sang songs, talked, and got to know each other better. We met a photogenic lizard.
Day four
On the fourth day, things didn't go according to plan. Since our tents were washed away, we took a day off. And it was wonderful!
The most important victory of the day - we climbed to the top of the nearest mountain! We lay on a slope among ancient oak trees and did not want to return. We hope that the photo with a beautiful view of the Caucasus Mountains will get the most likes;)
We got to know Adygea and its deep traditions better. “Having drunk the water, imbibed with the local air, you no longer became guests, but family,” as our guest today, a writer, traveler and scientist, said.
Day five
Even the most notorious sleepyheads got up for morning yoga and qigong after a soulful performance of a song from Midshipmen by our charismatic attendant. Cheers could be heard from the tents. We are looking forward to tomorrow's wake-up call;)
Fate gave us another amazing place, near the Belaya River: coolness, mighty trees, large stone cliffs. There we spent wonderful moments of silence, as well as diving from high boulders and swimming.
Day six
Today we escorted some of the guys from the first shift home; we really didn’t want to leave. As a result, in a week of joint work, 10 dolmens were cleared! Hooray! From long-term communication with stones, we ourselves became dolmens;)
Yesterday we built part of the stairs to pass through the ravine, held a series of wonderful master classes, made sprinklers and poured water on them;)
And in the evening, after the official part, we danced and had a blast!
Day seven
It was the seventh day of the expedition, the Adyghe hobbits tirelessly continued to look for adventures...
We jumped into a mountain river, rode horses, met with archaeological scientists, visited the Lago-Naki cave, and talked about true friendship, love, and purpose until late at night.
We are expecting the second shift: friends from St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Moscow and Kaliningrad. Welcome with watermelons! In honor of the guys, tomorrow there is a festive wake-up at 6 am, instead of the usual five;)
Day eight
Day eight. The second shift has arrived.
“Nothing!” is the only correct answer to the question “What do we know about Dolmens?” With this phrase the transfer of experience to the second shift began.
We accepted a camp equipped with the latest technology;) we were taught how to find dolmens in the thickets and how to use pruners and trimmers to clear dolmen hills from grass and bushes. We got inspired and cleaned another dolmen. There are a lot of us;)
In the evening, to get to know each other better, they delighted each other by playing crocodile: they showed poetic sketches on the theme of mountains.
With renewed vigor, we are ready to get to work. Good morning!
Day nine
The second shift got to work. It was amazing how a hillock, overgrown with blackberries and crowned with a hawthorn tree, was transformed into a dolmen in 2 hours by the efforts of 20 people.
Several groups went to Tesniny. Reflecting on the meaning behind this name, it is difficult not to be amazed by the power of the river, carving its path through ancient rocks. Despite its strength and power, the river brings peace and harmony.
On the way back we managed to touch the national Adyghe spirit; we listened to an Adyghe song about love for the homeland. The piercing and deep language evokes a feeling of respect.
Over the evening, around the fire, we, according to tradition, shared our impressions and experiences. The discovery of our day was the understanding of one of the eternal values - the value of a real person, a friend working next to you.
Day ten
“Do good and throw it into the water” (Adyghe wisdom)
In the midst of the heat, scorched by the burning sun, we turned to poetry. We were inspired by Pasternak and Pushkin, campfire songs, songs about frost and winter. How pleasant it will be to remember these songs in a couple of months, sitting in snowy cities, in different branches of the same school “New Acropolis”.
The trip to the waterfalls hit us with the flow of a refreshing mountain river. So we learned what else we could bring down on our heads. Towards the end of our journey, a watermelon and a melon appeared - the 8th and 9th Wonder of the World. We bathed under the thunder with special pleasure.
In the morning we set ourselves a task: to answer the question “Why am I here?”
In the evening, around the fire, someone shared his thoughts:
“The example of a good person who devotes his life to preserving cultural heritage is worth responding to and helping.” Igor Petrovich Ogai became such an example for us. Even a short acquaintance with it inspires you to dive into the thorny thickets of blackberries and gives you hope that this region will soon become a dolmen park under the protection of UNESCO.
A special highlight of the stay was contemplating the night sky. We lay down with our friends like a star in a field and looked at the stars - this is how the sky saw us off to a new day.
And one of our volunteer poets gave everyone a poem:
We continue to open
Dolmens for the world to see,
Things are going wrong
With pruning shears in hand.
Blackberry, elderberry, nettle
They leave a chronicle
On the skin and in the hearts!
| %20 | %20 |
| %0A%20 | %0A%20"> |
06.08.2015
Volunteer expedition
The cultural association “New Acropolis”, which has been engaged in cultural, educational, environmental and volunteer activities for almost thirty years, is organizing a volunteer expedition from July 25 to August 9 to participate in the implementation of the historical and educational project Archaeological Park “Kozhzhokh Dolmens”.
Media representatives wishing to take part in covering the work of the expedition are asked to contact the expedition leaders:
– Vadim Karelin, tel.: 8-917-841-04-17
- Anton Abrosimov, tel.: 8-916-180-86-87
- Maria Burla, tel.: 8-906-731-24-03
You can follow the news of the expedition on this page
The first day
We are in Adygea. We don’t fully know our coordinates, but dolmens are around us;) And excavation work has begun.
The camp will be set up between giant oak trees, as big as a Totoro tree. There was water in a huge blue pool, a tent, a shower and much, much more, without which it is difficult to imagine the expedition. Having built a dam, we got a sandy creek on the Sredny Khadzhokh stream.
And dinner was very tasty and acorns were falling.
A camp com a camp!
Second day
News from the Adygei Shire.
We woke up with the dawn at 5 am ;) to get a lot done - in the end we completed the weekly plan. A hang glider hovered above us. Local television came and filmed our work (three cleared dolmens).
Further exciting journey to
Rufabgo waterfalls and the Khadzhokh Gorge made us late for dinner, but we did not cancel the evening theatrical performance.
Day three
“I spend all my free time in the water” (“Peter Fm”). Today it's about us.
While the work on clearing the dolmens was going on, the temperature was +30, and it was raining during the excursions. The fighting spirit of the Akropolitans cannot be broken: hiding from the rain, we sang songs, talked, and got to know each other better. We met a photogenic lizard.
Day four
On the fourth day, things didn't go according to plan. Since our tents were washed away, we took a day off. And it was wonderful!
The most important victory of the day - we climbed to the top of the nearest mountain! We lay on a slope among ancient oak trees and did not want to return. We hope that the photo with a beautiful view of the Caucasus Mountains will get the most likes;)
We got to know Adygea and its deep traditions better. “Having drunk the water, imbibed with the local air, you no longer became guests, but family,” as our guest today, a writer, traveler and scientist, said.
Day five
Even the most notorious sleepyheads got up for morning yoga and qigong after a soulful performance of a song from Midshipmen by our charismatic attendant. Cheers could be heard from the tents. We are looking forward to tomorrow's wake-up call;)
Fate gave us another amazing place, near the Belaya River: coolness, mighty trees, large stone cliffs. There we spent wonderful moments of silence, as well as diving from high boulders and swimming.
Day six
Today we escorted some of the guys from the first shift home; we really didn’t want to leave. As a result, in a week of joint work, 10 dolmens were cleared! Hooray! From long-term communication with stones, we ourselves became dolmens;)
Yesterday we built part of the stairs to pass through the ravine, held a series of wonderful master classes, made sprinklers and poured water on them;)
And in the evening, after the official part, we danced and had a blast!
Day seven
It was the seventh day of the expedition, the Adyghe hobbits tirelessly continued to look for adventures...
We jumped into a mountain river, rode horses, met with archaeological scientists, visited the Lago-Naki cave, and talked about true friendship, love, and purpose until late at night.
We are expecting the second shift: friends from St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Moscow and Kaliningrad. Welcome with watermelons! In honor of the guys, tomorrow there is a festive wake-up at 6 am, instead of the usual five;)
Day eight
Day eight. The second shift has arrived.
“Nothing!” is the only correct answer to the question “What do we know about Dolmens?” With this phrase the transfer of experience to the second shift began.
We accepted a camp equipped with the latest technology;) we were taught how to find dolmens in the thickets and how to use pruners and trimmers to clear dolmen hills from grass and bushes. We got inspired and cleaned another dolmen. There are a lot of us;)
In the evening, to get to know each other better, they delighted each other by playing crocodile: they showed poetic sketches on the theme of mountains.
With renewed vigor, we are ready to get to work. Good morning!
Day nine
The second shift got to work. It was amazing how a hillock, overgrown with blackberries and crowned with a hawthorn tree, was transformed into a dolmen in 2 hours by the efforts of 20 people.
Several groups went to Tesniny. Reflecting on the meaning behind this name, it is difficult not to be amazed by the power of the river, carving its path through ancient rocks. Despite its strength and power, the river brings peace and harmony.
On the way back we managed to touch the national Adyghe spirit; we listened to an Adyghe song about love for the homeland. The piercing and deep language evokes a feeling of respect.
Over the evening, around the fire, we, according to tradition, shared our impressions and experiences. The discovery of our day was the understanding of one of the eternal values - the value of a real person, a friend working next to you.
Day ten
“Do good and throw it into the water” (Adyghe wisdom)
In the midst of the heat, scorched by the burning sun, we turned to poetry. We were inspired by Pasternak and Pushkin, campfire songs, songs about frost and winter. How pleasant it will be to remember these songs in a couple of months, sitting in snowy cities, in different branches of the same school “New Acropolis”.
The trip to the waterfalls hit us with the flow of a refreshing mountain river. So we learned what else we could bring down on our heads. Towards the end of our journey, a watermelon and a melon appeared - the 8th and 9th Wonder of the World. We bathed under the thunder with special pleasure.
In the morning we set ourselves a task: to answer the question “Why am I here?”
In the evening, around the fire, someone shared his thoughts:
“The example of a good person who devotes his life to preserving cultural heritage is worth responding to and helping.” Igor Petrovich Ogai became such an example for us. Even a short acquaintance with it inspires you to dive into the thorny thickets of blackberries and gives you hope that this region will soon become a dolmen park under the protection of UNESCO.
A special highlight of the stay was contemplating the night sky. We lay down with our friends like a star in a field and looked at the stars - this is how the sky saw us off to a new day.
And one of our volunteer poets gave everyone a poem:
We continue to open
Dolmens for the world to see,
Things are going wrong
With pruning shears in hand.
Blackberry, elderberry, nettle
They leave a chronicle
On the skin and in the hearts!
Day eleven
During the work, we realized what a dolmen is - an unidentified lying object (UFO). Do you know how to recognize that there is a dolmen in front of you?
We determine this by three main criteria:
1. Most often this is a hill (mound);
2. There are usually large pebbles around;
3. And in the center there are large, unnaturally processed megaliths.
As in previous days, we admired Igor Petrovich, an enthusiast with a burning heart, inspiring us every day to achieve feats.
“Many things in the world come and go, but dolmens were there 5 thousand years ago and should remain.”
(c) Igor Petrovich Ogai
At the beginning of the day, we set ourselves the task of answering the question: “What am I learning?” And during the day we realized that being in the bosom of nature, we learn to be here and now, and learn true generosity from nature.
After the nightly campfire we had a tour of the starry sky. We delved into the symbolic and mythical meaning of the constellations.
Filled with a state of gratitude, we ended the day.
Day twelve
On this day, work continued on the dolmens. Here and there cheerful voices, poems, songs, and epics were heard. In the morning, the dolmens began to inspire us for the evening of Heroic poetry, and in the afternoon we had master classes. We brought out the best in each other:
made whistles from clay (“Ethnic whistles”),
set goals for the future (“Time is in captivity”),
imbued with the spirit of poetry (“How to read poetry”),
learned how not to fall from a tree while tied with ropes (“Basics of Industrial Mountaineering”),
made wonderful sketches in watercolor and pencil (“Graphics”, “Plein air”).
We saw how a person reveals himself in a new way through creativity.
And in the evening we were imbued with heroism, witnessed the tragic story of Hector from the Iliad, listened to the Russian epic about Ilya Muromets, sent Parsifal in search of the Grail and descended into the kingdom of the dead with Gilgamesh.
The phrase that everyone agreed on best describes the end of the day:
“I love the fire not for the fire, but for the close circle of friends.”
Day thirteen
On the last working day, we worked for only 2 hours, waiting for the promised surprises from Igor Petrovich.
Having completed the work, we decided to look at the fruits of the labors of two shifts, walking through all the heroic huts (as the Cossacks called dolmens).
As the acting prosecutor of the Republic of Adygea (?) later said:
“I think you will be pioneers. You showed that you can do good for free.”
And the second surprise (after 101 watermelons) from Igor Petrovich was a trip to the monastery of St. Michael the Athos Hermitage.
One of the expedition participants commented on this trip as follows: “I was struck by the openness of Father Mikhail, who gave us a tour of the monastery. He showed us, ordinary tourists, all the most valuable things for the brethren: the temple, the hall for services in which only brothers pray, and icons from Athos.”
Igor Petrovich gave us a tour of the Museum of Paleontology. The collection collected by the brothers of the monastery amazes with its scale and beauty. Giant ammonites (these are ancient predatory snails), mother-of-pearl shells and balls of rare stones - everything could be touched and studied.
On the way to the camp, we learned what the fifth dimension is, crammed into a 24-seat bus with the whole group of 50 people. As always, we solved any difficulties that arose with enthusiasm and songs.
We reached the camp, where after dinner a sweet surprise awaited us and a ceremony of presenting letters of gratitude by Igor Petrovich Ogai.
At the farewell bonfire “Sing Me More,” we continued to share the best in us. In groups and individually, we sang songs, read poems, marveled at magic tricks, looked at the fire and thanked each other for the wonderful days of the expedition.
“An expedition is a kind of path to a dream. She has the ability to change and reveal people. I am grateful to the expedition for creating fertile ground for bringing out the best in us.”
“The camp has become a dolmen that you want to return to.”
