Unfortunately I have not been able to turn this picture right side up. However what is still apparent is the faint writing on the stones of this picture. This picture was taken from the wall of a building used for the historic University of Salamanca, placed very near to the Cathedral of Salamanca. Immediately when seeing the writing on the building I was remined of a very similar set of words and letters I had seen on the Cathedral of Granada. Previously, I blogged about the grafittee that is so prevelant here in Spain. Both of these images I had assumed were just that, another form of grafittee, but this time I felt there would be few people who would suggest that the red letters painted on such antique buildings was any form of art and not vandalism. When I recognized the letters again in Salamanca, I can remember feeling almost compelled to shake my head and sigh! However, our tour guide of the day came promptly to the rescue and kept me from discriminated too badly "on the hooligans" who had painted on the old school building. The words painted in this picture are actually centuries old and have retained their color and place on the structure due to the integrity of the stone and its resistence to change color or erode with the elements of te weather. The words and symbols represented the academic acheivments of people of the era and those who had graduated from the university. Earlier in the day she had explained that graduation was contingent on an oral examinations from professors. One vote against the student and the exam was suspended and the student did not graduate. As any person can imagine, that made graduation quite an acheivement, such that it gave the student the right to paint their name or intials or symbol or whatever their heart desired on the side of the building. Maybe the question about grafittee can be answered in a similar way, an opportunity for a person to mark their achievement or who they are. Finally, I am glad that I do not have to graduate through an oral exam as they did, but I think it would be neat to leave my name on my universities wall!