To Be Strange

Stranieri. The Italian word for foreigners. Strangers, it sounds like. To be strange. Out of place, though not with the same implication as the English word for stranger. To be a stranger in English is to be frightening, to be avoided, to be unwelcomed, to not be trusted. To be referred to as not from here. Why does it seem so bad? To be not from here? Stranieri, they are neutral. They are travelers, they go to the university ”Università per Stranieri” in Perugia, Italy. They are welcome. To be strange I think is to be interesting. It is a curious word- stranger- and should signify a curious person. A bad stranger, well that should be another word all together. Words, the perspective of them, what a delightful thing to consider.