Here are some childhood memories from the 90s I still remember that I’m sure many others can relate to and that I hope I’ll never forget.

• Going for a pizza at Chez Nicola. An Italian restaurant where Rotana currently is. It was near the “Petit pont” roundabout. The restaurant and property was owned by Nicola Bianco, a big Italian man who made all the pizzas himself while sweating profusely. I would walk in and he would immediately start making my margarita pizza. I remember there was an African grey parrot and I would sit by the oven and watch him make the pizzas. I remember Paulin Mombole who now works at the Patisserie Nouvelle in town. He had worked nearly 40 years with Nicola!
• Learning how to ride a bicycle with my grandfather
• Playing tennis with the coach Denis and being called “champignon” rather than “champion”. It means mushroom.
• Stoping in the car at a traffic light and being called by beggars “Mundele madesu”, Lingala for “white bean”
• Going for piano lesson at a Chinese lady’s home and hating it
• Getting a red and white Wilson golf bag at Christmas from my dad when I was 6
• Getting a remote control motorcycle toy from my dad’s trip to Japan and immediately crashing it into a gutter and hating myself for it
• Sleepovers with friends and sneaking out at night to roam around the neighborhood
• Getting caught lighting flame throwers with deodorant and a lighter by the cook
• Getting driven to school by my grandfather and hearing him swear in Kutchhi or English to cars that would overtake us “Chodu!” “Gan mare!” “Driving like there’s no tomorrow!”
• Going for swims at AERWA, a sports complex with restaurants where the current Ismaili mosque is.
• Taking Karate lessons with Maitre Denis
• Sleepovers with friends, fighting like Bruce Lee
• Playing video games like Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Moto cross, on a Nintendo or a Sega game gear
• My first communion at the “Nonciature” and the lunch at the Cercle de Kinshasa
• Giving a flower to my crush after her ballet show
• Listening to my dad’s Michael Jackson vynil collection and making mixtapes of songs I liked
• Listening to “Eternal Flame” a white tape in the car on the way to school with my sister
• Fighting with my sister for the front seat when we got picked up from school
• So many other things…