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How a simple act of individual protest turned a family's entire life upside down.

If it were not for 24-year-old Yulia Chepalova, Russia might have returned from the recent Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland without a single gold medal. True, Russia hasn’t lost the women’s 4x5 km relay race at a World Championship since 1989, but this time around Russia’s women’s team was not the odds-on favorite.

This exhibit highlights the resilience and creative power of people deprived of their freedom or their own place to live.

Russian computer wizards compare their American counterparts to intelligent, disciplined dogs, while their compatriots are unruly, freedom-loving tigers. So it is no small achievement that David Ian, 32, president of ABI, has managed to tame an elite band of Russian tigers.

Father Mark (born Sergei Golovkov) calls himself “deputy foreign minister of the Russian Orthodox Church.” He is responsible for protocol and arranging meetings between top leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and foreign leaders, secular and religious. So, in secular terms, one may call him a diplomat for Russia’s oldest social institution.

Thirty-year-old Maxim Larin is general director of Afanasy brewery (his wife Olga also works there). Under his tenure the company has pursued a unique pattern of growth and introduced a variety of successful brands, most notably a world-class porter, rich with oak and herbal undertones.

The samovar is an essential part of Russian life. Let us sit by the samovar, enjoying tea and Russian sweets while we explore the samovar's history in Russia, as well as the culture of taking tea in Russia. We will also learn the meaning the Russian proverb "Don't go to Tula City with your own samovar."