year under Usos y Costumbres. The fourth Friday of Lent, three weeks before Good Friday, is the La Samaritana celebration. Large ceramic pots are placed and decorated. Some are decorated with bricks but most have imitations, and then arches of palm fronds with bougainvillea flowers are then placed. The tradition is derived from a passage in the Bible in which a Samaritan offers water from a well to Jesus. Palm Sunday celebrations begin a day before when elaborate figures made of palm fronds are made to be blessed at mass the following day. The figures vary in size and complexity and are often decorated with crosses, pins and flowers. Those who do not make their own palm arrangements buy them from stands located in and around the main church. These are then kept for the remainder of the year to protect the home. During mass, eight young men are chosen to read different Biblical passages related to the Passion of Christ. They are dressed in white tunics, with wreaths on their head to represent Christ. Afterwards, it is traditional to go to the municipal market next door to buy provisions for that day's supper. This includes a bread called “pan Amarillo" cheese, honey, ice cream, tamales, tasajo, tlayudas, tortillas, fruits and flowers. At these and other events, the most common music is produced by wind instruments and the most common dance is the jarabe, especially at weddings. The most commons foods include mole (especially amarillo, verde, and coloradito), regional sweets, tlayudas, barbacoa and fava beans, accompanying by tepache, mezcal and beer. The municipality As municipal seat, the town of Villa de Etla is the local government for six other communities, but most people live in the town proper. These communities together occupy a territory of 17.85km2 and are bordered by the municipalities of Asunción Etla, Santo Domingo Etla, San Miguel Etla and Reyes Etla. The municipality is located in the Central Valleys region of the state about seventeen km from the capital of Oaxaca. The municipal government consists of a municipal president, an officer called a “síndico” and four secretaries called “regidors” (for taxes, education, public works and agencies/neighborhoods). These and other officials are elected under Mexico's usos y costumbres system. As of 2005, only 621 people out of a population of 7,637 spoke an indigenous language. Most are Catholic but about a sixth belong to another or no faith.