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.
Constructing Hope: Ukraine
Saturday was the day of St. Patrick’s celebration, but I did anything but that. In the morning, I was in the clinic escort, and then I walked to the CAC because I wanted to see two new exhibits and buy Chicago River Cruise tickets for people coming in April.
Unfortunately, the shortest way from the clinic to the CAC building is along the Chicago River, and unfortunately, that was precisely when they started to dye the river green!
A side note: two years ago, when I was in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day, I was shocked to see how calmer and more civilized the celebration was there!
The last two shots were taken from the windows of the Chicago Architectural Center, and my goal was to see the Constructing Hope: Ukraine exhibit.
This exhibit showcases the work of grassroots initiatives to support short- and long-term Ukrainian reconstruction efforts. While the exhibit space is filled with first-aid sheltering kits, Co-Haty project works, and design ideas, the video monitors screen the footage of the crews asserting the damage to the buildings, women crying over the ruins of their homes, cursing the invaders. To be honest, that left me with hopelessness rather than hope, but that was how that day went.
By the end of the day on Saturday, having clinic escort in the morning, then seeing this exhibit, and then watching Under the Grey Sky, I felt like there were so many real threads in the world that all my troubles and fights were absolutely not important and I have no right to be upset about them.
I still do, though 🙂
Belarus’ Resistance
To add to my yesterday’s post, a couple of pictures from the Siskel Center foyer where Mara Tomkevich posed with one of the activists of the Chicago Belarusian community and audience members.
She is amazing, and I keep thinking about this movie and how powerful it is. During the Q&A, Tomkevich mentioned that all the scenes from the rallies and arrests were the actual footage and even the soundtrack to the scene by the prison gate was recorded by the prison.
It’s so sad and so unfair that so few people know about the events of 2020 in Belarus, about resistance, rallies, arrests, and prosecution. I hope this movie will spark some interest in these events and that the struggles of the Belarusian opposition will be more widely acknowledged.
Under The Grey Sky
That was the only film I watched during this year’s Chicago European Film Festival (this year hosted by Poland). The film director, Mara Tamkovich, was in the audience and held a Q&A session after the screening. She is brilliant, and the movie is brilliant, and I almost cried almost all the time while I watched it.
From the Siskel Center website:
In Mara Tamkovich’s eerily timely feature debut, journalist Lena is arrested for livestreaming the suppression of a protest against the 2020 Belarusian election, thrusting her husband Ilya into an untenable situation. With the grim possibility that Lena will spend years behind bars, Ilya must consider the sacrifices he may be forced to make to support her. Inspired by the true story of Katsyaryna Andreeva and Igor Ilyash, UNDER THE GREY SKY is a haunting portrait of political repression in the digital age which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and won the Best Debut Director prize at the 2024 Polish Film Festival.
Flying Back
I flew back from LA to Chicago last Sunday, on the day of switching to daylight saving time. My original flight was about 11 AM, but then I switched to the first flight of the day so that I won’t spend the whole day on the flight (and I had a show at Theo that evening).
Although that meant I had to be up before 4 AM of DST, it was the right decision – I believe, that’s the only way for an American Airlines flight to be on time :). I was unsure whether the lounge will be open – in ORD, they open the AA lounge at 5-30AM, and even later, at 6 AM, in Helsinki. Maybe they stay open 24X7 at LAX, I don’t know, but at 5:05 AM they were open and breakfast was available – the first normal breakfast, with fruits, that week!
Then, same as on the inbound trip, there was no food on the plane, and by the time I was out of the aircraft, it was already six hours after this breakfast. I still wanted to get home ASAP, because I had chances to bike while the weather was nice, so I didn’t stop in any of the airport cafes, and preceded to the Uber pickup spot.
Judging by the driver’s name, there were high chances he was Muslim, so I said that I apologize of he is fasting, but would it be OK with him if I munch on a bisquit since they didn’t feed us during the flight. He said is was fine, and then he asked me whether I want a date, because it’s the best after you didn’t eat for a while. It was so unexpected tha I said “yes”, and he pulled out a napkin with several gigantic soft dates, and I took one. It tasted heavenly.He proceeded telling me how he was caught during the previous night “missing hour” with not being able to get in time to a cafe opened until 3 AM, because 3 AM happened right after 1 AM, and how he was well prepared on that day (“I also have oranges, if you’d like!”) He definitely made my day!
Just FYI…
… since people ask. I have blogged very little recently compared to my usual activity, not because I am super busy (I am, but not to that extent), but because I do not want to write about three-quarters of the things happening in my life right now.
It should be over at some point. And I am taking a mental health day tomorrow, and I hope to catch up with life and become more human:).
Pasadena
The weather was horrible most of the time, and also, I was busy with multiple work and non-work things and the only time I did some sightseeing was for a couple of hours on Saturday, when I met with my friend Tanya and she took me to see Pasadena Town Hall and American Pacific Museum.It was great to catch up with her, and also, that was the only day when the weather was nice!
Time Magazine: Balance
I know that the abilityh to balance is a very important indicator of how you are actually aging, and this Time Magazine article talks about it in-depth.
Continue reading “Time Magazine: Balance”Hotel Dena
I loved the hotel, all its retro decor, my room, and the gym. The only thing that I strongly disliked was food, breakfast specifically, but I already lamented about it.
Now, some nice pictures.
A Post Of Food Complaints
As it turned out, American Airlines does not serve food or even have food for purchase on the flight to LA. I was in the lounge before the flight, but it didn’t even occur to me to take an apple on board – I was absolutely sure I could purchase something during the flight. It turned out that the only thing I could purchase was alcohol, chips and almonds!
With the flight delay, and the time it takes to get from LAX to Pasadena, it was 8-30 PM local time when i got to the hotel, so it was already 10-30 PM CT, and I didn’t want to go to the restaurant, all I wanted was to go to bed.
I woke up at 3 AM (5 AM CT), and forced myself to sleep for a little bit more. I didn’t want to switch to PT time because it was for three days only, and Sunday is Daylight Saving Time switch, and my flight is very early, so it didn’t make much sense. However, breakfast at hotel started at 6-30AM, and I needed to survive until that. I grabbed some snacks in the 24 -hour self-service shop on the hotel;s first floor, and there was coffee in the room, but still…
On top of that, the hotel breakfast was mediocre at most. When I see “breakfast included” I assume there will be breakfast buffet, but instead, I was given vouchers for each of the days, and the only thing you could get on this voucher was your choice of eggs (sramble, fried, sunny side) with your choice of toast and coffee or tea. That’t it. I asked for cappuccino, and they said “it was not included.” I said that I could pay for it, they said:OK, and in ten minutes, they brought me regular coffee. 🤷🏻♀️
There is no food served at the Expo; the talks start at 10 AM local time, which meant noon for mw, and a lunch break (when you needed to go and find your lunch) was from 1-30 to 2-30 PM! The Starbucks in the building helped,but overall, I don’t know what to say! Let’s just say that the first day, and the whole stay was very food-challening!
Hettie's Reflections 