Hex 2013, Round 7: Well, That Hasn't Gone Well

Let's all just forget that game on Friday ever happened, eh?

I type this from a hotel room in Alajuela, Costa Rica, near Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría (SJO). It's been a terrific, albeit whirlwind, trip.

My friend Charlie and I flew in on Wednesday evening, staying near Alajuela for the night. On Thursday morning, we had a rental SUV delivered to us and drove off towards Volcán Arenal. We took a hike to the base of the volcano, which was pretty cool. We stayed that night near La Fortuna, a little tourist town near the volcano.

On Friday, we drove back down to Alajuela, returned the rental car, then took a cab to downtown San José. We chilled a bit, then headed out; it was game day. A semi-quick cab ride to the pre-game bar, then we were ready for action. Once the AO bus rolled in from Puntarenas, the party was in full swing.

The bar was a quick march away from the stadium, and we definitely got a little harassment along the way; really, would we want it any other way? Once inside the stadium, we found our way to our section, in the southeast corner of the stadium. We were in the front section, but still felt miles away from the pitch.

...and speaking of "miles away", that's how far the US was from showing up in the first twenty minutes. Bradley getting hurt during the warmup killed; it's going to be tough against Mexico without him, for sure. There were many, many things that went wrong during the game; I'm sure those have been beaten to death elsewhere.

I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed with the game experience. There wasn't anything too bad (though a few of our ranks were egging on some of the more excitable members of the crowd), but I always thought the Costa Rican fans would be a bit more classy than they were. We belted out the anthem the best we could, though we could barely hear it at all through the whistles. There were plenty of people displaying their IQs via their middle fingers.

The police did a good job with security; they were even a tad over-cautious after the game. They also presumed that all of the Americans rode on the AO buses; luckily the AO buses were in a good spot to catch a taxi back to our hotel.

Saturday meant a 6:30am bus departure for Monteverde. Should you ever find yourself in Costa Rica, this is a can't miss region. It's at nearly a mile high and has beautiful jungle terrain. The last 25km of the trip are on some harrowing, narrow gravel roads, which leads to interesting situations and spectacular views.

Today we returned on the bus back to Alajuela. Overall, the trip has been good. Most people have been friendly, even about the game.

Tomorrow morning brings a 7:30 flight to Atlanta, then on to Columbus. A free upgrade to business class for the first leg of the trip is certainly a nice bonus, though. Maybe I'll have to wear my business socks; hopefully the team wears theirs on Tuesday.