Last week I had a very interesting day at work.

It started just like any other, I showed up wondering what banal task I would be set up to (I’ve been loving my internship experience, but not necessarily for the excitement of the work) when my fellow interns and I were offered the opportunity to run off to the set of the photo shoot for the 2018 SSNIT company calendar. Sensing a boring day on the horizon, we jumped at the opportunity to leave the office.

But to be honest, I fully regretted this decision about an hour later. First of all, to waste time while we were waiting to leave we were taken to the SSNIT Call Centre. We were given a tour of the room and were set to sit with somebody in order to learn more about the functions of the Call Centre. I sat with a very nice man named Raphael. He detailed all the joys of his job, and then I proceeded to sit next to him for 30-45 minutes while he answered the phone and looked up people’s accounts.

I started to feel myself fade.

Then finally we were able to leave! Except of course it’s never that easy. First we were set up in a car, then we were kicked out to get on the bus, but the bus was full, so we got into a car again, then got kicked out again. So we waited at the office for a car to come back for us. It was a stressful time. However we did get given food, which to my dismay was a tuna sandwich thing and a meat pie.

When we finally made it to set it was actually a pretty cool place. Evidently the Trust is building a sports complex, complete with a swimming pool and a boxing ring. The boxing ring was about finished, so the sports-themed shoot was taking place in there. But gosh, it was hot. I was regretting my decision 110% by that point. We weren’t doing anything except watching, which was almost more boring than filing back at the office.

However then came a plot twist. We were going to be models! We were told to go to makeup, because we were going to be in the next shoot as SSNIT customers.

So without further ado we were rushed off to location number two, which happened to be a tree outside a craft village called the Wild Gecko in East Legon. When we got there, it was time for me to sit down for makeup. It took a good ten minutes for the lady to find a shade for me, which was still a bit too dark (I’m very Swedish). There was a man there who, as typical with some Ghanaian men, was trying to flirt with me. He kept saying something like “Oh she doesn’t need makeup,” to which the artist just keep saying “Are you sure?”

I’m still not sure if I should be insulted by that.

Anyway, she finished my makeup and it was marvelous. She had filled in my eyebrows about 15 shades too dark, and even had done that thing where you put highlighter all around the brow; a look very pretty on Africans, not so much on a white girl. But I digress. I was camera ready, albeit a little shy about the brows. And I kept getting compliments– I even got the word “exotic,” which was new.

Then we all sat and took picture after picture. Again, I started to feel myself fade. The sun and the excitement of the makeup and the lack of good food was draining. I was sitting there, trying to focus on keeping my posture straight, all the while sweating my eyebrows off. I’m not so sure if this model life is for me.

If you’re wondering, we did get the pictures back. All the ones I’m in are just the back of my head.