Praz-what?!?

I'm still recovering from the praznic we just had for my host mom's husband who passed away a year ago. For those of you who have never heard of a praznic before, allow me to explain. Every year, to mark anniversary of a person in the family who passed away, a traditional feast is created, and anyone who was close to that person is invited to attend. Let me tell you, it was quite the feast!!! Approximately forty five people were invited and the ensuing preparation was mind-boggling!!! My host mom has been cleaning and repairing the house for this ceremony for about a month. Her daughter came in two days early to help with preparations, and the night before the meal, about six wonderful women from the neigborhood stayed at the house till 1 in the morning to help prepare all the food, and set everything up!! I was up and helping too. I learned how to make some of the traditional dishes, and as you can see from the picture, the table was FULL of traditional dishes!!!! The next morning, at about 7AM, the Orthodox priest came to bless all the food, and the praznic that was to follow. I included a picture of this because it was very interesting. He sang the traditional blessings, and went through a whole ceremony, and I got to watch it all, and even take pictures! Pretty cool. After this, the eating began, and I am not exaggerating when I say we ate from 8 in the morning till about 11 o'clock that night!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although I had some food and a little wine (at 8AM, nonetheless) with immediate family, the rest of the guests began showing up around 9, and the real feast began around ten. That food statyed on the table all day, and people would come and go, and every time someone came, it was time to eat and drink again. By the end of that day, my stomach was so confused and full, and thrown off from all the eating, and the different types of foods, that it took me about two days for my stomach to feel normal again. It was quite the never-ending meal, but it was also quite interesting. Because it is lent for these people, many of them will not eat meat. So, everything was either fruit, vegetable, or soy. No milk products, no meat. But it's amazing the variety of foods that can be created from these ingredients. There was a lot of delicious food, but my host mom and I are still trying to finish it all. We even gave a ton of food to the surrounding neighbors, and still we have a surplus that I don't think we'll be able to finish!