Valencia, Spain | Summer 2026!!
By: Ellie Boehme
Hi everyone! My name is Ellie Boehme, and this summer I will be traveling to Valencia, Spain! I will be staying at the FSU València Study Center through their International Program. Monday-Thursday, I’ll be taking a Spanish 2 and Art History class during the day and exploring all that Valencia has to offer in the evenings. On the weekends, I’m hoping to travel to different cities across Spain like Seville, Málaga, Pamplona (to see the Running of the Bulls!), and Barcelona, and maybe even take a flight or two to another country.
To me, being a Global Scholar means having a passion to see the world and make an impact on it by focusing on one community at a time. It’s being curious about an issue or subject and seeking understanding from multiple perspectives to present a holistic conclusion.
This summer, I will carry out the tenets of global scholarship by approaching my experience in Valencia with adaptability, conscious decision-making, and cultural understanding of Valencia and my CBI. I will be mindful of how my actions and research affect others and consider issues from multiple perspectives (health, culture, etc.). I want to form lasting relationships with both the students and staff in my cohort, as well as build trust among my participants. I will critically think about my own possible bias, beliefs, and experiences to understand how these factors could impact my research. Most importantly, I want to situate what I learned this summer into a broader global context regarding nutrition, well-being, and healthy lifestyle outcomes.
My CBI focuses on how FSU students in a 6-week Valencia program experience Spanish food culture and the Mediterranean diet and how their experience relates to their well-being. After debating between focusing on Valencians or students and staff, I decided to focus on my specific cohort because our shared experience allows for more direct comparison, and being part of the group gives me convenient and natural access to participants, making data collection more manageable and realistic.
I plan to approach this inquiry by focusing on students’ experience and perceptions rather than cause-and-effect. I will conduct interviews at the beginning and end of the 6-week program. I will also interview faculty and staff at the Valencia Study Center to gather broader insights on how students typically adjust to food culture.
I expect this research to have the most substantial implications for FSU international program students in hopes that when they study in foreign countries, my research will encourage them to reflect on local food culture and their own habits.
I plan to engage with the Valencian community daily not only through food culture but also by striving to live like a local! I will integrate myself into my host community by sparking conversations with locals, going on runs through the neighborhood, and trying some “hole-in-the-wall” restaurants. Since food is such a big part of my project, one of the main ways I hope to connect is through meal-time conversations, whether that’s comparing American eating habits to Spanish traditions or talking about how different foods make us feel. I think food is one of the easiest and most fun ways to bond with people, so I’m excited to use it as a way to spark genuine conversations and cultural exchange. I want to engage with restaurant staff, ask questions at local markets, and simply observe how people gather and eat together.
Lastly, I’m excited to throw on my glasses and get into full studious/mysterious mode on train rides back from weekend adventures while crafting some informative, yet entertaining, blog posts for y’all. This summer, I’m ready to try new foods, go on spontaneous adventures, and travel off the beaten path! I can’t wait to see all of your pictures throughout the summer!
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