Verena Nelson (UVM '13) was spending the winter in Nicaragua with her boyfriend, teaching english through the website VIPkid to pay living expenses. When the COVID-19 virus hit nearby Costa Rica, Verena was one of many expats trying to get out of the country, which is ruled by a communist dictator and is not putting social distancing measures into place as of this time. Verena and her boyfriend made it out of the country on one of the last flights out of the area, but others did not.

The Guardian article mentioned in the podcast: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/nicaragua-daniel-ortega-missing-anger-fear-month

State Department Website on Nicaragua: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/nicaragua-travel-advisory.html