{"id":806137,"date":"2020-04-07T10:05:55","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T16:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=381501"},"modified":"2020-04-07T10:05:55","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T16:05:55","slug":"80-vail-resorts-employees-from-ecuador-are-stuck-in-colorados-mountain-towns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/80-vail-resorts-employees-from-ecuador-are-stuck-in-colorados-mountain-towns\/","title":{"rendered":"80 Vail Resorts employees from Ecuador are stuck in Colorado\u2019s mountain towns"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Grace Barrera, left, and Nancy Meras of Ecuador were working as season employees at Vail\u2019s Two Elk Lodge when Colorado ski areas were closed March 15 due to the coronavirus. Barrera is stranded in Vail with no income because Ecuador has closed its borders due to the pandemic. Meras is staying with her father in Virginia while waiting to return home.<\/strong>
Provided by Grace Barrera<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A month ago, Grace Barrera had a seasonal job picking up trash and cleaning tables for about $12 an hour at a mountaintop restaurant on Vail Mountain. It was a job she liked because the people where she worked  \u201cwere very kind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But now, the 28-year-old is one of about 80 Ecuadorians stranded in Eagle and Summit counties because the ski areas have been shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak. She has a plane ticket to return home on April 30, but she could not afford the exorbitant change fee to re-book for an earlier flight, she said. And even if she could, Ecuador closed its borders because of the coronavirus outbreak the same weekend Colorado ski resorts were closed.<\/p>\n

So with two parents and a sister back in Ecuador, Barrera lives rent-free in Vail employee housing, and she waits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sad because I can\u2019t go back home and see my family,\u201d said Barrera, who is from Quito, Ecuador\u2019s capital city. \u201cIf I had the money, I would buy the flight, but I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

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