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The fast from meat begins today at sundown. Dairy etc is still OK until sundown next Sunday. Monday, March 14 is the first day of Great Lent. Don't worry too much about fasting. Its something to work into. It has been my experience that most good spiritual fathers will tell their children that its best to start slow and over a few years work into the whole panoply of the fast. Otherwise, failure can lead to discouragement and resentment. A strict monastic fast means no meat, dairy, eggs, fish with a backbone, olive oil or wine. Honestly, please don't set yourself up for a disappointment. Fasting should be done as a part of living out an Orthodox life as best you can, especially the fast during Great Lent and there's a lot to it. Sega, sega, as the Greeks say, slowly, slowly.

As for head covering, I'd see what other people are doing. Some parishes are very traditional in that regard, others are not. When I was a kid, women always covered their heads, now, at least in the GOA and in Greece, head covering is quite rare.

Which jurisdiction's parish did you attend?

Joy of All Who Sorrow is within the bulgarian diocese (diocese, is that correct?). All of the women had their heads covered. There were a couple in the big black gowns that cover everthing except the face. There is another one we might check out, St John the forerunner--it is an Evangelical Orthodox Church, now part of the Orthodox Church in America.

A strict monastic fast means no meat, dairy, eggs, fish with a backbone, olive oil or wine.

The dairy would be hard--I live on yogurt, but I also drink soy milk. Honestly, as long as chocolate and wheat thins aren't restricted, I wouldn't even notice. Hmmm. I should probably give one of those up, eh? I don't have very good eating habits.