Puente de Suspiros (Bridge of Sighs)

0:24 Big girlfriends. It's me Adrian or Aiden. Either way, I am still your host and you are still listening to Sustal, the podcast of spooky stories centered on paranormal folklore from Latin American and Hispanic cultures. Right off the bat, a belated a Happy belated Felicia the Les Maddez, and happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there who happened to listen to Sustal. I hope everybody had a good weekend. Jeff and I made a quick trip home to go see our moms. I also went to a mixed lawn festival in McCallen, Texas, which is this amazing big art culture in music festival. And I'll probably be sharing some clips of that. I know. I posted them on my story on Instagram. That's at Sustal Podcasts on every platform, but I think I also will post like maybe a mini vlog or something of that on Patreon. That'spatreon dot com slash Sustal podcast, where you can also if you are a best goalfriend, watch today's episode. Say hi to our little gulfriend pillow back here. We did a name for our little girlfriend right here, because they're in every episode now every video episode, and so we need a name for them. So if you can think of one, let me know send it in. Some quick updates about the show, some things that are coming up. I want to give a big, huge thank you to Alexis and Eric from City Alchemist for the last episode. As I mentioned, it was years in the making, literally constantly saying let's do it, let's do it, let's do it. And they were so patient and so kind because as I mentioned before, it was always the ball was in my court. It's my show, right, so it needs to be up to me to get it together, get my life together, and

1:56 make it happen. So we finally did and they allowed us their space and it was I think a great episode. I honestly, when I was editing it, I found myself kind of just zoning out and listening and not really kind of paying attention to do I need to edit that? Because I was so into it. So if you haven't heard it, if you haven't listened to it, please make sure you go and do so and follow them online. Also, huge shout out to one of my dear girlfriends, Dan Saguovieah. We've worked together before, but thank you Dan. So much for doing the video for this episode. It looks so beautiful. You may have seen some of the clips on social media. I've been posting those and again, the full video episode is available exclusively on Patreon. Thank you again, Dan so much.

2:40 And speaking of City Alchemists, this Friday, May sixteenth, at eight pm, we are going to be doing a Night with Susto at City Alchemist. They are having me over to do a live storytelling and after we are screening the movie Veronica. So if you haven't listened to that episode yet, it is the Vayeka's case based on stefaniag with Yet and then the movie Vernica is based on that story. So it's gonna be a fun night. There will be refreshments available. Seating is limited, so you can RSVP at the link tree that's linktr dot ee slash Susto and it should be maybe the first link up there. The tickets are donation based mainly. It's there so you can reserve a space because again limited seats, so feel free to give as much as you want, as little as you want. We will just be excited to have everybody there for a fun, spooky night. Again. That is May sixteenth, this Friday, So if you're listening to this on Patreon in a couple days, if you're listening to this everywhere else, tomorrow here in Austin at City Alchemist, you can follow either of our profiles that's at City Alchemist or at Soustal Podcast. Visit the link in the link tree to learn more about that. And then on Saturday, May seventeenth, you can catch me at the fourth annual Psychic and Spiritfest hosted by The Curious Twins at Victoria's Black Swan Inn in San Antonio. So a couple details about that. The gates will open on Saturday at three, speakers will start at four, and I will be speaking at five, so make sure to come by and listen to and watch the incredible lineup. Say hi, say boo to me. Don't boom me while I'm up there, but

4:11 you know, give me a little boo afterwards, I don't know. And then they also have some really cool stuff, so it's gonna be a full market along with the speakers if you haven't been before. I love this event. I love the events that they do at Victoria's Blackswan In because there's food, there's drinks, there's it's just always a really cool time, so make sure you go check that out. They will also have the Annabelle Doll, yes, the doll from the Warrens a Cult museum, and other haunted objects along with her, so make sure that you go check out the ticket options so you can see what you can get access to. I know some things are sold out, you may want to check it out see what's still available. I think only tickets at the gate will be available, so you'll want to try and get there early. But as always, feel free to reach out to Curious Twins.

4:52 You can follow them online. That link is also on my link tree again, that's linktr dot ee slash susto and it should be the second one right after a night with susot Cidi Alchemist. So I will see you this weekend. So much fun to be had, and without any further ado, let's get into today's story, which is the story of Elente de Suspios. In the quiet town of Gomala, nestled in the lush, green valleys of the Mexican state of Gaulima, there's a bridge that no one dares cross at night, crossing the San Juan River. The bridge connected to the Gaye Progresso to the other side of the bank. It was originally intended for the centennial celebration of independence. The bridge, however, is marked with fear and anger. Now known as the Puente de Losuspiros or the Bridge of SiGe, it stands as a foreboding edifice.

6:06 Its ancient stone arches are covered in moss and ivy, casting eerie shadows over the dark waters below. The bridge is more than just an old stone structure. It's a place of whispers, secrets, and restless souls. Legend has it that on moonless nights, the bridge comes alive with the size of children, soft sorrowful exhalations that seem to rise from the very stones themselves. The air around the bridge grows heavy, and a chilling silence envelops the area, broken only by the faint, ghostly whispers that scent shivers down the spine of anyone who dares to listen. The townspeople of Comala speak of the bridge in hushed tones, sharing tales of its haunted past and the soul's trapped within its cold, unforgiving stone. The bridge was built in nineteen o nine at the height of the Porfiriato when Comala was growing rapidly and the town needed the bridge to connect its farthest corners. The workers who arrived to build the bridge were outsiders, sent from the city by Porfitio Vis's authoritarian government. They were strangers to the rural town of Gamala, and their presence immediately stirred tension and mistrust.

7:32 The townspeople, wary of the government and its heavy handed tactics, were suspicious of the workers. They knew that children could be put to work under such regimes, and the fear of losing their own children to forced labour loomed over them. The workers, on the other hand, distrusted the townspeople, viewing them as simple and untrustworthy. This mutual suspicion created an atmosphere of disquietude from the very beginning of the construction. The workers were under immense pressure from the government to finish the bridge quickly. They often had to work late into the evening, their faces illuminated by the flickering light of lanterns. Exhausted and overworked, they became irritable and short tempered.

8:20 Their anger sometimes spilled over, and they would snap at the curious townspeople who ventured too close, further deepening the divide between the two groups. Miel, however, was blissfully unaware of the underlying tensions. As a young boy, he was lucky enough to not understand why the townspeople were uneasy. He was just excited to see a bridge being built. The sight of the workers and the construction process fascinated him. He would watch from a distance, his eyes wide with wonder, imagining the grand structure that would soon span the river. His parents, aware of the dangers, told him to stay away.

9:03 They warned him that it was dangerous to go near the site and that kids had gone missing around construction areas. Despite their warnings, Miguel continued to watch from afar, his naive and trusting nature making him believe that nothing bad could happen. Late one afternoon, Mituel's excitement turned to fear when he saw something that chilled him to the bone. The workers were mixing blood into the mortar. He couldn't believe his eyes, but the sight was unmistakable. The red liquid blended with the cement, creating a gruesome mixture. Horrified, Miguel ran back to town and told everyone what he had seen. At first, the townspeople were skeptical, but the existing attention and mistrust made them more susceptible to believing Miguel's story. Whispers spread quickly through the town, each retelling more dramatic than the last. The idea of blood being mixed into the mortar was horrifying enough, but soon the story took on a life of its own. Did you hear they're using blood in the construction? When villager would say blood, whose blood? Another would ask, eyes wide with fear, I heard it to the blood of children? Someone would whisper, their voice trembling children who went missing near the construction site.

10:31 The townspeople imaginations ran wild. They remembered the warnings about children going missing and began to connect the dots in the most terrifying way possible. The fear of losing their own children to forced labor turned into a belief that the workers were using the blood of kidnapped children to build the bridge. The whispers and rumors fed off each other, growing more hysterical with each passing day. Soon, strange sounds began to emanate from the bridge. At first, only a few townspeople heard the sighs low voices, murmuring words no one could quite understand. They dismissed it as their imagination or the wind playing tricks on them. When they asked others, they were met with confusion and denial. I heard no such thing, the others would say, shaking their heads. But as the days passed, more and more people began to hear the eerie sounds. The whispers grew louder, and the sighs became more frequent, spreading fear throughout the town. The whispers and sighs fueled the townspeople's fears, leading them to believe that children were being used in the construction of the bridge. The community fell into hysteria, convinced that the bridge was cursed and that the souls of the lost children were trapped within its stone and mortar. Miel, despite

12:02 his initial horror, began to doubt what he had seen. Could it really have been blood or was it just a trick of the light, his imagination running wild. Determined to find out the truth, he decided to venture to the bridge alone one evening. Known for his adventurous spirit, he had heard the rumors, the warnings of children who had gone missing near the construction site, but he wasn't afraid. Surely it was just superstition, he thought. As he approached the bridge, Miel tried to act brave. He told himself that there was nothing to fear, that the stories were just tales spun by frightened villagers. His steps were confident at first, his head held high, but as he drew closer, the night seemed to grow darker and the air heavier.

12:56 The silence around him felt oppressive, and his bravado began to waver. He stood at the edge of the bridge, listening the air settled around him. That's when he heard it, a soft, agonizing sigh that echoed through the night. It wasn't the wind, not this time. It sounded like a person, like someone who had been waiting for a long time to be heard. Neel's heart started to pound. He tried to convince himself it was nothing, just the wind or his imagination, but the sound was too real, too close.

13:40 His palms grew sweaty, and he felt a chill run down his spine. He turned to leave, but another sigh came closer, this time as though the wind was moving through the stone itself. It was followed by something worse, A whisper, low and distant, almost like a voice calling his name. Miyev's heart began to race as he looked around, but there was no one there, only the cold, dark emptiness of the night. Then he heard it again. This time it was clearer, but no less terrifying, A child's voice, soft and distant, pleading help help me. Miez stood frozen, every instinct telling him to run, but his feet felt rooted to the ground. Help. The whispers grew louder, and the sighs came faster, as if they were closing in on him. He could hear a multitude of voices, now all of them overlapping. Some were desperate, others full of sorrow, but they all seemed to be coming from the bridge itself, from the stone and mortar, as if the bridge were alive, breathing with the pain of those it had claimed. A cold wind swept through, carrying with it the sound of shuffling footsteps, faint but unmistakable. Miguel's breath caught in his

15:14 throat and his hands trembled as he turned to run, But before he could take a single step, the whispers rose to a frantic pitch and for a moment, everything fell silent. It was then that Miguel heard a final terrible sound, the sharp crack of a twig snapping behind him. He spun around, but there was no one there, just the bridge, standing still, as if waiting for him to come closer. Suddenly, a construction worker emerged from the shadows, yelling at Miguel. The worker's face was twisted in anger, his eyes wild and blood shot, his hands covered in blood from working late and mixing. The mortar glistened ominously in the moonlight. The blood dripped slowly from his fingers, staining the ground beneath him. The sight of the blood, combined with the worker's furious shouts, terrified Miguel. Miguel bolted, his heart pounding in his chest, but the whispers followed him, echoing in his ears as he ran back to town.

16:25 The townspeople heard Miguel's screams and rushed to the bridge. They found the worker with blood on his hands and assumed he was trying to hurt Miguel. In their panic, they became a crazed mob, their fear turning into anger. He's trying to hurt Miguel. Someone shouted their voice filled with terror. Look at his hands, they're covered in blood, another yelled, pointing at the worker's stained fingers. That's proof he's guilty. The mob's fear turned into fury. They yelled and threatened the worker with violence, brandishing sticks and stones. Get out of our town. When man shouted, his face contorted with rage. The worker tried to explain, but his words were drowned out by the angry shouts of the mob.

17:14 They advanced on him, their eyes wild with fear and anger. The worker, realizing he was now in danger, backed away, his hands raised in a futile attempt to placate them. He had no choice but to flee. He ran, the mob, chasing him to the edge of the village, their shouts echoing in the night. The townspeople, driven by their hysteria and fear, watched as the worker disappeared into the darkness, never to return. The construction of the bridge continued, but the tension remained. The townspeople never knew if the other construction workers were also using blood, but they all kept their children far away from the construction site. The bridge was eventually finished, standing tall and imposing over the river.

18:05 Yet the townspeople were always afraid of it, convinced that they could hear the size of tormented children coming from its stone arches. To this day, the Buente de Loos Suspiros is shrouded in fear and mystery. The whispers and sighs continue to haunt the night, and the townspeople of Comala speak of the bridge in hushed tones, sharing tales of its haunted past and the souls trapped within its cold, unyielding stone. Welcome back, well, friends, Okay, so get right into it. We have a few sources here, of course, and this episode was once again written, researched, and co written by Jeffrey Doyle and myself, So big love Jeffrey Doyle.

19:11 There are a few sources here, but jeff also left a note for us This says interesting background information. They would actually add animal blood to mortar to make it stronger. The proteins helped bind the mortar together, and a quick definition of mortar is it's a workable pace which hardens to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete masonry units to fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, spread the weight of them evenly, and sometimes to add decorative colors to patterns or patterns to masonry walls. So if you've ever seen a brick house, it is the gray stuff between the bricks. It's what kind of hold and binds everything together. But there's a link here as well. This is from Sage Journals. It's journnals dot Sage pub dot com. And once again all the direct links to these sources will be in THESEUS of Google doc on Patreon.

19:58 And this is from an article looks like It's titled Preparation and Characterization of Ancient like masonry Mortars and in the abstract this says the characterization of mortars prepared according to ancient methods from the colonial period in Mexico is reported. The materials were prepared by mixing limestone, sand, water, and an additive bovine blood, milk or cactus ap so one of those three, the bovine blood milk or cactus app and the compression strength, flexual strength, and tensile strength were measured according to ASTM standards and at different aging stages. The technology developed allows, on the one hand, counting with a reliable methodology for restoring ancient buildings similar to the originally employed and on the other to offer a low cost technique for construction by using agricultural products. A lot of discount sounds really technical in sciencey and I read through it and every time I could find the word blood, of course I zeroed in on that. But essentially it just kept saying how it was prepared. So like the recipes again include bovine blood, milk, cactus ap In this this particular study, mortars were meant for restoring buildings from the what is that XVII, what number it is, I don't know century in the Mexican city of Morelia, State of Mechuakhn, classified officially by UNESCO in World List of Cultural Heritage in the early nineteen nineties. Yeah, it's just saying that these buildings. That was kind of the recipe to what made this mortar stronger. And towards the end of this article it says for the case of mortars with bovine blood, in spite of their relatively mild mechanical behavior,

21:28 their activity to the environment was surprisingly good. In any case, all the additives helped to improve the mechanical properties of the mortars as compared to a simple limestone order. This is important because the Mexican Standards for Historical Monuments prohibit the use of Portland cement for restoration works, leading to the search of alternative methods for preparing inexpensive mortars. So I don't believe that this is a practice that is still in play, but it's interesting. Blood was used to build certain things. So with this story, we're going to dive into the origins. You can imagine that people may have seen blood being used, and then you know, you know how these stories go. Also, if you are watching the video, where is she? Margaret has been harassing me because I'm home alone right now, and so there's no one to distract her, and she is just I'm trying to keep her from screaming, and she's let me see if I can get her up here on camera and watch.

22:16 She's gonna be pissed that I'm lifting her up to the camera. Say hi, she's parking, can you Margaret? She looks so funny in the camera. All right, you're nasty. Hopefully she will stay quiet for the deation of this episode. But if you're watching video and you keep seeing me like, move my arm down, I'm patting her so she doesn't scream. Her head off. Okay, let's dive into these next sources. After that, Margaret cameo. This first source here is from Mexico Unexplained dot com legends from the state of Kawalima. And this is, as you guess, it is a list of legends from the state of Kualima. At number three, I think in no particular order. This it's called the Bridge of Moans again at Buende de los Ospidrios, and this says in the town of Gomala, in the years nineteen oh nine and nineteen ten, workers built a bridge over the San Juan River. They called the new road leading to the bridge Gaya Progresso, in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the Mexican War of Independence. So this bridge is also like a monument, right, it continues.

23:22 The construction of the bridge was the most exciting thing the town had seen in years. Many townsfolk went to the construction site to observe the bridge being built, and the workers soon became concerned that a curious child might suffer an accident. Right, construction place is no place for a child. Construction site, so the parents in the town began cautioning their children to stay away when strong warnings were not enough, some parents began circulating rumors that the bridge builders were taking children and mixing them in with the building materials to make the bridge. We're going to see a different version of how they were mixed in in another source, but just prefacing that that kept away most of the little ones, except for one young boy who've entry to the site and from behind a low wall, watched some of the workers mixing cement. Again, as you imagine, this boy is who inspired our main character for this story, Migel.

24:09 It was an old local tradition to blend a little bit of chicken's blood in with the mixture for good luck. We're gonna talk more about this, the good luck idea and chicken's blood versus what we know is actually documented is they would use bovine blood, but because it strengthened the mortar. But this is an interesting thing I wanted to look in and bring up, so we'll go into that next. But so this continues, and when the little boy watching the cement mixing saw a little bit of red liquid added to the mixture, he assumed it was the blood of a child. He ran back to his neighborhood and told his friends. Soon most of the town of Guemala believed that some of the local kids who had gone missing ended up in the bridge as part of the finished product. There are lines of writing on the bridge, a few sentences to dedicate it, and people in town who could not read assumed for many years that the letters spilled out the children who were sacrificed to give the town a span across their real Juan.

25:00 So strong was the belief in the story of the Dead Children that the bridge was nicknamed the Bridge of mons or Pelosuspidrios because pastors by swore they heard the tormented cries of the kids who were mixed in with the mortar. Okay, a couple things to go through that we pointed out in this story, and this is a really good kind of version of the story that has like every point that we want to hit, right. The first thing I think that we said wanted to talk about was so I'm going to work in reverse here, So this idea of the dedication and people not being able to read. So yeah, it was just saying, I'm assuming it's like a plaque that says on this day or this bridge was built for, Like why is this bridge here, right, And we know it's because it's a dedication to the one hundredth anniversary of Mexican or Independent so I'm sure it says something about that. But there's people who were unable to read, and they had already heard this story by then, so they were thinking, oh my god, they put the names of the kids who are in this bridge or who were used to build this bridge, freaky right, And so that kind of just perpetuated the story. The thing about the blood that I was really excited about. I have that a little bit low in the document here because we're gonna jump around.

26:02 This is venturing into an area of the world that we haven't done before. But I'm I've been very curious about doing it. I've been asked to do it, but I'm not sure. So consider this a poll, yes or no. Tell me what you all think. Leave it in the comment of the social post for this, send me a message, an email, leave a comment on Spotify. Especially if you are of Filipino descent or you are Filipino, Please let me know what you think. I have been asked about doing stories from the Philippines, and I've told people before I've kind of joked about it, like different land, same colonizer. So I'm wondering if that covers that area of like Hispanic. I don't know exactly too much, but if I'm encouraged to do so, I would love to do more research and to educate myself properly about the culture as well, because I know that there are amazing stories that come from there. So I say all that to say because this next link, it's from the Philippines and it says go to the attacowboy dot hom dot blah Philippine Life and Travels. And this entry was published in twenty nineteen.

27:04 It's called Folkways, chicken blood and little People. That's exactly what it's called. I'm not sure what the involvement was about little people. I didn't read the entire thing, but it spoke to the chicken blood thing, which I was really interested in because it was mentioned, of course in that source earlier, and I've heard things about this, so I'm just going to read this. It's in quotes. This says they need two chickens. Who the workers They need two chickens before they can start the fence. Why they need to put blood in the first post hole or the fence will fall. This continues. We had hired a dozen or so local fellows to clear out our overgrown pastures and build our perimeter fence. They had made great progress clearing the tall grass and underbrush while waiting for the posts and wire. The request for the chickens came when the first posts arrived. I wasn't really surprised by the request. I've had a lifelong interest in folkways and worked for several years as a historian. Many cultures the world over have a tradition of a sacrifice of some sort in the foundations or walls of various structures. This is an aside if you were sensitive to the treatment of animals, just forewarning, you might want to skip maybe like fifteen seconds. This says in Old England workers would sometimes seal a hopefully already dead cat into the walls of a new building. So request for fresh chicken blood didn't really surprise me. I drove to a town and brought a couple of live chickens from a street vendor.

28:25 You might want to skip those whole sources if you're sensitive to this sort of thing. Just the heads up, but it's not extremely graphically detailed. But still either way, this continues. One of the workers took them down to the creek, where he promptly butchered them, draining the blood into a bowl. Another fellow carried the bowl up to the fencing crew. They poured the offering into the waiting post hold without any ceremony that I could discern. Back at the creek, I noticed that the chickens had been plucked, cut up, and placed into the cookpot. The divide between the physical and the spirit world seems thin here in the rural Philippines. Nearly everyone appears to have had some type of experience with an otherworldly being. And then this continues about I think other stories there, but this idea of the blood being used, so I poked around about that, and by the blood being used for superstitious or religious practices, So there's of course, I think many of us know who or have heard about the idea of like animal sacrifices, especially with chickens. And the reason I found this so interesting is because I heard recently, I'm not going to say who or where, but I heard that there was a really big event being put on for the public, and that before they put up like flags or like posts or stuff like basically essentially like this like something that's going in the ground that like as an offering for any deities that may be in control of or could impact the weather. It was an offering to them so that they put either I wanted, I can't remember exactly, I would have to ask, but that they put either just the blood or like a whole chicken at the bottom of the post hole before they put the flag

29:56 or the fence post whatever. It was as an offering to like how good weather for this thing to go off? Well, you know, like you know, just like it was an offering right for as you could say, I guess good luck, as was mentioned earlier. So I just thought this was extremely interesting and it really piqued my interest, and I had to like dig around a little bit more about that before I moved on. I'm going to move on to the other sources, and we're going to reference back the things that I was kind of thinking about earlier. The idea of kids being used for manual labor, for like forced manual labor. That that's not like a fake thing, it was something that was actually happening. This is another academic journal. This one was behind like a loggin wall. I had to log into something. But this is from Gael Books and the link the first part link says go dash Gale dash coom dot easy proxy dot lib.

30:43 But if you want to look this up, is from a book called The World of Child Labor, a Historical and Regional Survey. The article I'm assuming the article in this that we're going to look over, or that I looked over, is titled History of Child Labor in Mexico, and this was published in two thousand and nine, authored by Marcos ti Aguila and Mariano I tors B. Yes, if you want to look this up, it's got some length to it and it's really academic. But I read the entire thing, and it's talking about the history of child labor in Mexico and how especially again as was mentioned in the story in the I have trouble saying the word but like the Borfriato, but during Portfririo d. S's regime or his time over in Mexico, in power, and even before that that in Mexico and especially in ancient times, that younger people or that children were we were working. They were part of the working class. Children as young as like twelve, And it wasn't always as you imagine like labor going out to work with like a briefcase or whatever, right, obviously not. It was also part of the familial structures which I think we still kind of see now eldest daughters of the family. You all are really going to hear this one and it's gonna hit you in the heart. But that was there was a name for the elder the eldest daughters, and the family families that would take care of their children, and that was considered labor because it is it is labor.

32:02 And so this whole thing, it's really interesting. It's talking about the different kinds of labor that children were basically used for, and it ranged again from household labor to working in the mind to working as apprentices. But there's also a breakdown based on like class and cast is the word that was also used that depending on who you were and what your background was, you could be an apprentice, but you could not then become the thing that you were apprenticing for. You were just an assistant. And then if you worked in the minds, depending again on your background, on your indigenity, on your how much money your family already had how much land you did or didn't have, that the pay scill was based off of that, and not on the work that you were doing, the quality of work, the amount that you produced. It was based on who you were, which is wild to me, and let's be real, still applies to women in the world, right.

32:57 But this is just a really interesting look. And again it talks a lot about child labor and that how eventually it was abolished, and also in some ways how that kind of continues. There was something really interesting here Towards the end. This says thus toward the end of the year two thousand. This is at the very end of this that I thought was interesting. It says, thus, toward the end of the year two thousand, the percentage of working children in households with less than five person was fourteen point three and in households of seven and eight members it reached a surprising twenty one point four percent. The ancient regime appears to have been resuscitated. So this is saying that this idea or this practice of child labor, and you have to really expand what your idea of labor is, because labor happens in the household like stay at home moms. It's not just a cute name for someone who takes care of the family or children or runs the household. It's it's a job. It's a full time job. Absolutely, it is labor, and that's a whole can of worms that we can unpack and have hours long discussions about. But so ultimately, I just I thought this article is really cool because I think it could challenge someone to expand what their idea is on what labor is. And then again it's saying that this kind of thing is happening again and it's really honestly sad to see it. Sometimes you think about cases with children, how they're I think the term is called parentified is when that happens. It's when they're they are the children, but then they're forced to either care for siblings or, depending on the situation, care for their parent for a variety of reasons. But I don't know. It was just like I thought it was really important to look at

34:28 this also in this idea of child labor and the history of child labor in Mexico, and how again it varied across the board from different types of labor and how they were treated and why they were treated that way. So I could maybe do something separate about this again it would it deserves its own episode, or maybe I can find something really cool another podcast about it. But if you are interested again this article, it's titled History of Child Labor in Mexico. The book is the World of Child Labor and historical and regional survey authors Madocus ti Aguila and Mariano Eat what is b And also anytime you all hear me talk about like an academic source in Sustal on Sustal, you could also if it's behind some sort of paywall or you need some sort of like official login for something that you can't get or you can't afford, or you just don't want to pay for it. I have heard that a lot of times.

35:17 If you just reach out to an author, especially an academic author, and you say, hey, I heard about this theme you wrote. I was really interested in it. Unfortunately can't get behind log in, paywall, whatever it is, Is there any other way to access it? Sometimes they will just send you their research for free. They will just they're like, yeah, here's a link, here's an email, here's a document, Because you know, I feel like any I'm going to use the word good. Any good academic would want to share that that information freely, but because of how it's published, the publishers then have to put out whatever I'm just saying. Sometimes you just have to ask what did we say in the City Alchemist episode? You just got to ask sometimes. Okay. So the next source that we have here is from moss Dash Mexico dot com dot MG, And to be honest, this is just another retelling of the story. But I want to say, this is where they talk about the pillars. Okay, Yeah, So this says, however, since it was dangerous for children to be in a construction area unattended, the adults devised a way to scare them away without resorting to scolding or reprimanding them. They told the children that the bridge builders often used curious children and stuck them between the columns.

36:22 So I believe this source was translated. So what I'm imagining is they were telling them they're going to put you like literally, they're going to just put you in the bridge. So imagine like surrounded in like a pillar that's holding up part of the bridge, Like they're going to put you in there if you get too close. So like a different way that this honestly threat was made to the kid, which is what a lot of these stories are. They're threats, right, paranormal threats. And they were told, if you get too close, they're going to put you in there. And then now we know the other versions say they're going to use your blood, They're going to put you in there. You're going to be part of the bridge. So whether that is your complete like physical being, or if they're taking your blood and using that in the mortar mixture, but I just thought it was I wanted to bring that part of that variation of the story. This next source that we have here is from Barratodo Mexico dot com and this is legend of the Bridge of Size. Again, this is pretty much the same short kind of legend the years nineteen or nine nineteen ten. The bridge was built in Guamala over the San Juan River, Okay. And this is again why we wanted to point this one out. This says, faced with this situation, the parents, wanting to avoid an accident, decided to warn their children that the workers were taking children and while still alive, embedding them in walls and columns.

37:33 So it was again the threat went different ways they were they got created with it that they're going to kill you and put you in there. They're going to drain your blood and mix it in there in the cement, or they're gonna basically not bury what's instead of burier, they're going to seal you alive into the wall and the columns of this of this thing. This also says this led to the fact that once the work was completed and inaugurated, many single women refrained from passing through there as they claimed to hear the cries and size of the buried children, mistaking them for their own mothers who had abandoned them. Adults who lacked the gift of reading pointed to the inscription located on one of the columns relating to information. This is also translated so I don't know, but basically, people who couldn't read, they would look at the inscription or the dedication on it relating the information about its inauguration, stating that the names of the children's buried there were those names there. So again that's where this comes from. And I believe the last source that we have here this is from the ario the Yaki dot MX, and this says, learn about the legend of the Bridge of Size, one of the most famous and interesting in Gordima. Again, this is a translated source, so that's probably gonna be different when you first find it online. Again talks about what the story is. This also has the detail of they said the caretakers often lured curious children between the columns so that they were built into it. Towards the end of this, it says, is the legend real? It says it has been reported that the young man did indeed see blood on the pillars, but this fluid was from animals, as it is said

39:05 that back then blood contributed to the consistency of the mixture, making it harder or stronger. The legend originated from a simple misunderstanding, although it was thanks to this that the Bridge of Size became an iconic place in Kolima. Again, I want to say another part said that at the same time that this bridge is being built, that children were actually like going missing. I think this was also towards the end of when child labor was being used. So just that those different things mixed into each other, like they're taking children, maybe they're using them for child labor. What is the kind of work that they're being used for. Maybe the work is like their body or their blood being used to make these buildings stronger, to make this bridge stronger. So again, people hear these different stories, they these different details, then they make up stories, they run with them, and then before you know it, here we are talking about bent this ispidos Ye. Welcome back, golfriends.

40:09 Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. Or if you are a best goalfriend on Patreon, you have access to the video version to this and many other episodes. Again, the videos is something I'm trying to keep up. If you're enjoying it, let me know shout me out on Patreon. And if you are enjoying the show, if you would like to support in other ways you already know. The easiest way to do so is by liking, subscribing, rating, reviewing, interacting with the show wherever you are listening, encouraging your girlfriends to listen to the show and to do the same. You can follow me for any and all updates on soustal that is, at Sustal podcast on every platform on social media. You can also visit sustalpodcast dot com and if you would like to hear your own scary story on a letter from the Beyond episode. You can do so by visiting the link in my link tree that's linktr dot ee slash sustal, or by visiting again my website and hitting that tell Me a Story button you can send in also with your story or instead of a video, a photo, audio recording, any multimedia you may have that you think I should share on the show or on social media. Send it to me that way.

41:09 And if you would like to support the show with money dollars, you can do so by visiting patreon dot com, slash sustal podcast and check out the tears so you have any of those work for you. As always, I am grateful for any and all kinds of support and a special shout out to this episode's patrons. You are Eliza, Sadie, Rachel, Alejandra Luth, April d Josette, Sam, Mandy, Jules, Lauri, Genie, Monica, Desire, c Ashes, Ndessa, Rachel, Asusana, Marlen, Chata, Laney, desre A, Carla archerd Gadado, Vanessa, Mariza, Nieves, Moner, mal Iris, mad Floor and Selena. Thank you all so so much. Your support means everything to me. Once more. You can catch me tomorrow Friday, May sixteenth, at City Alchemist for a live storytelling and movie screening of Veronica, and then on Saturday, May seventeen at the Curious Twins' fourth annual Psychic and Spirit Fest at Victoria's Black Swan Inn. I will see you all this weekend. Thank you for listening, and until next time, note Sostas bye,