Communal Table:

They eat here, converse, play, sleep on and around lower tables like these in many houses in Hue.

Michelle’s father’s side of the family live a few blocks from Ba Ngoai. This is Uncle Sang, wife Be (sitting behind Bri), their son, Bao, (directly behind Sang); Uncle Sam, his wife, Hanh standing and their youngest, Thuc (sitting in front). Em, their second eldest son, sitting far right. Cousin Linh, 15, sits directly behind Thuc and Michelle.  

Photo: Lanier Carson