Summary: Spanish author Miguel Aranguren looks for the silver lining in the current economic recession. The title "Del solomillo a la sopa de ajos" refers to the change in economic status of many middle-class Spaniards in recent months where people have gone from being able to afford many things to having to cut back and tighten their belt. The essay is read by César, one of my intercambios. Click here for a PDF of the article. Glossary of terms: "el moreno de agosto" = summer tan "estoy blanco y sin blanca" is a play on words in Spanish. "Estoy blanco" = I'm very white/I'm pale "Estar sin blanca" = to be broke, to not have any money "me entran ganas de volver tiempo atrás" = I feel like going back in time "el relax" = relaxation, a break "los precios....se han puesto por los nubes" = the prices...have gotten sky high "hombre recto" = an honest and morally upstanding man filigrana: filigree, a kind of intricate jewelry made out of fine threads of gold or silver twisted to resemble lace. But in the context of the essay, the author is using this word in a metaphorical sense, as a way of explaining how his parents went to a great deal of trouble to shield him, as a child, from the problems of the real world. "rascarse la cartera" = to spend money unwillingly. A similar expression that means the same thing is "rascarse el bolsillo." emponzoñar: to infect, to damage acreedores: creditors barniz: veneer "días de uva y miel" = In English, the closest equivalent is "days of milk and honey," which means prosperity.
