As we were wandering through the streets, there were various vendors walking around yelling to pedestrians about flags, capes and other Costa Rican merchandise. The streets became increasingly busy, as Costa Ricans from all over the country headed towards the stadium. By the time we got to McDonald’s, the restaurant was swamped. I ordered McNuggets and fries for $7 (What?!) and in a blink of an eye, I got my food! But besides that, there wasn’t any difference in the menu and service than in America.
At this point, it was time for us to head into the stadium. There were people everywhere you looked, and the streets were filled with cars trying to park and people walking in the same direction as us. When we got close to the stadium, there was a line of mascots—chickens. I didn’t know what they were representing, but it didn’t stop me from yelling out, “Look at all of those chickens!”. When we got past the entry point (at which I had to chug my one liter of water because I didn’t know we couldn’t bring water or food with us into the game), we were welcomed into the brightly lit stadium by some men walking on stilts. I quickly grabbed a frog mask from these performers, and went with my friends to sit down. The game opened with the national anthem and kick-off quickly followed. Although I wasn’t a sport-spirited person myself, I quickly found myself yelling, “VAMOS COSTA RICAAAA!!” and cheering whenever the other ticos (Costa Rican natives) cheered! It was a very slow-moving game. By half-time, no points had scored, but there were a lot of fake injuries, which is always amusing.
