fog or smog?

Last night a layer of fog blanketed Saint-Priest and I assume, subsequently, Lyon. It was so thick this morning when I woke up that I literally couldn't see anything but little balls of light coming from street lamps and cars. I thought.... shouldn't work and school be canceled for today? How is anyone going to be able to see to get to work! But.... the bus was there when I got to my bus stop, so I guess life doesn't stop for fog ;)

When I got to school, I commented on the brouillard, and Murielle's replacement said, "Well you know it's partly due to pollution and all the radio/tv stations told people to drive more slowly to decrease emissions on their way to work." I thought.... well that's strange. I guess it could be fog/smog, so I looked it up when I got home. Apparently Lyon is in fact a part of a "chemical corridor" and is at a higher risk for pollution. This is a statement I found on the official Lyon website: The metropolitan area's geographic situation makes Lyon a sensitive city in terms of air quality. The presence of the Rhone and Saône rivers in a rugged landscape including the Croix-Rousse, Fourvière and Sainte-Foy hills has generated a distinctive topography with a marked influence on the way pollutants disperse. South of Lyon lies the "chemical corridor", and the prevailing local winds are north-south and south-north. In climatic terms, winter in Lyon is often marked by temperature inversions resulting in higher temperatures at altitude than in the lowlands. Since 1959, air pollution has been a core concern for the City of Lyon, whose range of clean-air measures was implemented many years ago. In 1961, the City of Lyon Hygiene Bureau and the APPA (Association for the Prevention of Air Pollution) set up a manual air quality surveillance network. Another network monitoring the Loire/Rhône thermal power station was created by Electricité de France in 1963 and the ALPOLAIR network was set up by manufacturers to monitor the industrial zone south of Lyon in 1975. COPARLY was founded in 1979 and in 1993 the four networks were combined into one entity. So... I guess that's good to know that they make monitoring the pollution a priority.... even though it kinda stinks that they have the weird "geography=higher risk for pollution" problem in the first place. Hrmm.

In any event, I had a nice long school day (and by the late morning the fog/smog was clear!).... I did my emotion+color activity with 2 classes in the morning, did a short recap lesson on family vocab with the CP class, and helped a few students with their classroom work before it was time for lunch (the students I helped are ones who get in trouble often.... but in reality I think they act out because they need more support with the exercises they're doing.... it made me feel good that I could help them succeed with their work, even in French!). In the afternoon I gave 2 CM1 classes a lesson on Valentine's Day.... explaining the tradition of having parties at school and giving out Valentines. This is very foreign to them.... France just doesn't celebrate the holiday like we do! These lessons went well, although the first class was very chatty and I had to get a little bit stern.... which always makes me uncomfortable while I'm in another teacher's classroom. I hate to feel like I'm over stepping my boundary with behavior management, but it was getting ridiculous! The other afternoon class has a wonderful teacher who's very on top of things... it's always interesting to see how teaching the same lesson can go so differently with different groups of kids with a different classroom teacher!

After school, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I spoke with a teacher about a recipe for "jam hearts" and I thought I'd try it out! You cut out ready-made puff pastry in the shape of a heart, put strawberry jam in the middle of 2, and then sprinkle with sugar. You take a fork and press down around the edges of the little jam pockets.... and bake at 375 for about 15 minutes! They are incredibly easy to make and extremely cute. I haven't tried one yet, but I'll let you know how they are:)

I'm exhausted after my big day.... so I should get to bed early before having another long day tomorrow. I'm soooooo glad tomorrow is my last in-service. But thankfully, since I missed 12 hours of work when I was sick, these hours count towards making up sick leave. Shew.

Almost Friday! Can you make it?

Reste cool:)

ps- Shout out to Judi- Thanks so much for my get well card! I am fortunately back to la joie de vivre:) Let's hope it stays that way!!!