Author: Hettie D.

My name is Henrietta (Hettie) Dombrovskaya. I was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russian (actually, back then – Leningrad, USSR) in 1963, and immigrated to the United States in 1996. I love Saint Petersburg, the city I was born and raised in, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world. Similarly (but differently) I love Chicago, and can’t imagine myself moving somewhere else in the observable future. I have three children, Igor, Vlad and Anna, all adults living on their own, and one (so far) granddaughter Nadia. I also believe that my children are the best thing that happened in my life. As for my professional life, I am working in the field of Information Technologies. When I was twenty, I’ve declared that the databases are the coolest thing invented and that I want to do them for the rest of my life. Thirty plus years later, I still believe it’s true, and still, believe that the databases are the best. These two statements together imply that I think a person can have it all, and indeed, I think so! Keep reading my journals to find out how I did it.

27

That is another post that I should have written a week ago, and I pretty much wrote it in my head, but that was the day we traveled to Milwaukee, and then life took over.

October 22, 1996, was the day when I (together with Vlad and Anna) came to the US, and our very first day in the US is described here. Last week, Boris and I recalled this day twenty-seven years ago, and I asked him whether he really thought at that time that his life was over. He said that that was the case, which made me wonder for the hundredth time why we were such idiots. Boris disagrees :). He says that we were just uninformed. Possibly, but each time I think about what lies ahead, and each time I think that I’ve planned everything perfectly, I recall how, in the fall of 1996, both Boris and I were so sure that everything important in our lives had happened…

Grimm

Theater Above the Law is the best of all Rogers Park small theaters. On Friday, my mom, Igor, and I went to see “Grimm,” and it was flawless! My mom, not being able to understand what’s going on, still appreciates their acting each time I take her to Above the Law. I can’t stop comparing them with the Lifeline Theater – I made the right choice when I decided to subscribe to Above the Law and to hold off with the Lifeline.

It is flattering when the theater director recognizes me even from afar, and waiving: Hi Henrietta, your family is already in!

The play was great. A very accurate take on the Grimm Brothers’ tales, without any “humanization” and “adaptation.” Horrible stories of horrible times.

The Most Famous Spy

I meant to write about this back in June when Robert Hanssen died, but I kept forgetting about it. Now that I started listening to The Code Name Blue Wren, which mentions Robert Hanssen in the introductory chapter, I remembered that this post was sitting in the Drafts.

When Anna went to Knox College (which is one of the best things that happened in her life not counting our arrival to the US) we learned a lot about this amazing educational institution. Among other things we learned that one of the graduates Knox was most proud of was a double spy, who for several years was a head of the task force dedicated to finding himself 🙂

Speaking Up

I mentioned another mentoring volunteering organization I joined in September. I thought it would be more organized than OMD, but it turned out the other way. 🙂 I believe the core of the problem was the same – all of a sudden, the program expanded dramatically, and it became more difficult to keep up with mentor/mentee matching and overall organization. I was not matched for a long time, then I was matched with the wrong scholar (a person who wanted to be in a different program), and then, I was matched last moment with somebody who was absolutely not into STEM (I am not sure why she signed up on the first place). I think she will end up dropping.

However, while I am/was still on the roll, I joined a workshop with Dr. Valerie Lewis, and I am so impressed with her! She’s everything: incredibly smart, and her research is her primary focus; however, she does not live in an ivory tower. She navigated the complicated path of being a woman of color in STEM, not ignoring the obstacles. Another workshop participant said: “I am just doing my work and ignoring everything else.” That’s not Dr. Lewis’s position. She faces challenges, discrimination, and assumptions. She is tired of them, but she has the courage and boldness to address them openly. At the same time, she is not making this fight the first and primary goal of her life, nor does she become bitter. She still has a shiny positive personality. Let me say it again. She does not ignore problems; she stands up for herself, but she does not allow the problems to own her life. I wish I could be friends with her!

On another, however, related topic. At work, we just had a mandatory workplace harassment prevention training. It was a new course, and it was very well done – I learned something new about the techniques of identifying harassement and microagressions. One of my coworkers has being relating to me for a while that they were treated poorly by their manager. To be precise, they didn’t complain to me, but since we are in the office, I overheard multiple conversations, and after there most severe ones, I could not help but asking them privately how they felt. I’ve encouraged my co-worker to complaint about the situation, and not look for excuses for their manager (the manager had an ongoing difficult family situation). After that training, my coworker finally decided to act. Firstm they complained to the manager’s manager that there were no regular one-on-ones, and then, when one-on-one was scheduled, my coworker related to their manager how they felt about certain situations. I saw the change in their manager’s behavior immediately, so I knew that the conversation happened (which was later confirmed). Obviously, only time will tell whether the change is permanent, but I was incredibly proud of my coworker for finding enough courage to speak and relate all their grievances. I know that it was pushing the envelope, and that it was difficult! They thought that nothing will change, but things changed right away (for good or temporarily – we’ll have to see!

CSO Concert

Tuesday’s concert was indeed one of a kind! The program included

  • One composer unknown to me
  • A soloist unknown to me
  • Three pieces unknown to me

… and all of them were so good!

Each of the pieces was a gem, but Gershwin’s Piano Concerto stood out. I wish I would have the right words to describe it! The program said that Gershwin wanted to combine classical musical forms with jazz and blues, and that’s exactly what it was. The music was all around us and filling each corner of the space. I was bathing in the sounds of music, and each next phrase felt absolutely unexpected and at the same time perfectly in the right place.

OK, I just do not have enough words to describe it! The soloist told the audience how he was coming to CSO as a kid, and how happy he is now to perform on that stage. And again, I do not know how to describe how amazing he was!

My pe-concert Amorino 🙂

Pret A Manger Reopened!

It’s finally back to Chicago! I complained on Instagram about them not coming back after the pandemic, and two years later, they tagged me back:). I was so excited that I ie-installed the app and re-joined the club two days in advance – I removed both when Pret left Chicago.

That’s one of the oldest initial locations. Yesterday, they had a pre-launch and gave away 200 breakfasts and 200 lunches, but I didn’t need either, and also, I didn’t have time to stay in line. Still, I made sure to come and see! The only thing which I wish would be different – they are only open until 5-30PM, and they are closed on weekends, and that’s when I need them most.

IKEA Finds

Since we were in IKEA on Sunday, I could not leave it empty-handed. The best thing was that after two years of searching for Enthusiasm cups with holders, I finally found one.

Boris didn’t like that they were too big. I can’t disagree with that:), but I love how they perfectly match the ones we already have:

(I was working from home today because it was the last day for Boris to be here; that’s why breakfast at home for a change. I ended up spending almost all of the workday in meetings, so the fact that I was at home didn’t change much, but still).

A Very Short Theater Review

On Friday, we went to the Lifeline Theater to see The Cat’s Cradle. And we didn’t like it. I thought the small storefront theater couldn’t make Kurt Vonnegut bad, but … well, I do not think it was good. I really liked Bokonon (both the actor and how he was presented in this production), and I liked Crosbies, but I didn’t like what they did with the book. For me, “Cat’s Cradle” is about the responsibility of a scientist for the consequences of their discovery, about being a human first and then a scientist. Jonah’s story starts from researching Felix Hoenneker for a reason. This part didn’t get much attention in a play. Instead, they tried to pull more of today’s content into the play, talking about wars and how they are the US Government’s fault.

Even without this latter part, the first act was sort of falling apart; it became better in the second one. I almost regret we went, but at least I didn’t buy a subscription 🙂

Milwaukee

Boris and I went to Milwaukee today to visit the girls. We didn’t plan it originally, but Anna had a very bad knee injury, and Boris wanted to go to cheer her up (not like I didn’t want to, but I have more options to visit). I do not want to go into Anna’s medical details here, but the last three weeks were not easy. Anna told me earlier that Nadia and Kira were very helpful, and today, I got a chance to see for myself.

I was astonished by the changes in both girls since I last saw them a month ago. It felt like they became two years older in all imaginable ways. Nadia has her own bus pass and her own library card, which she carries in her wallet. She showed me a page-long essay she wrote and her geometry assignment. Kira’s speech made a huge leap. Both Nadia and Kira are very helpful at home. Kira can load and unload a dishwasher, and while I was there, she spent at least twenty minutes doing the dishes, rinsing the plates from the traces of food, and loading the dishwasher.

We went to IKEA together (Anna used a scooter inside the store), and then we (mostly Boris and Nadia) assembled a gigantic Kollax section.

A couple of pictures from today:

Walking to the Union Station. I rarely visit this pat of the Loop these days, and I forgot how stunningly beautiful this bridge is!
Approaching Milwaukee

In The Loop Yesterday

There were Palestinian rallies in the Loop for several days. Yesterday, Boris and I ran into a bigger rally on Michigan Avenue when we went to see the Camille Claudel exhibit at the Art Institute. I already read in the news about how violent the protesters have been, including attacking the City Council members, and that’s how yesterday’s rally felt. And it was way bigger than the biggest Ukrainian rally we ever had in Chicago.

The Tribune front page article talks about Palestinian and Muslim people in general feeling frightened and unsafe these days, especially with several hate crimes, and they compare their feelings with how they felt after 9/11. I think there is a big difference – I remember the feelings in society after 9/11. I understand that Palestinian Americans want to be safe, but that was not the narrative of yesterday’s rallies and all the rallies of the past week. The signs people carried were not about their personal safety. And not even about humanitarian aid to Gaza. And their chants were not about their safety.

Unfortunately, the ideology can’t be destroyed with shelling or any other means of brutal force. Same as it was not the German surrender that put an end to fascism destroying the terrorists won’t put an end to the terrorist ideology.