Jordan Jewel Art & Mosaic

Beautiful artwork! There’s a quick interaction with the artists when you arrive which is well done. However, the staff is masterful at not providing time to think through decisions, reiterating Queen Noor’s influence and the charity of how their artists are physically disabled, and how your purchase gives them a living wage. Each time I pulled out my phone to try to think through my decision or voiced that I needed space to process my thoughts, a sales person was right there guiding my attention away from my phone and my thoughts. I wanted to support their organization, I want to support keeping a traditional craft alive, I didn’t mind spending a little extra in order to do this. However, when I left the shop, I was able to finally get my thoughts in order since I was no longer constantly being distracted. When I looked up Jordanian handmade tiled tables online, I found larger ones than the one I purchased for 4x less than what I paid and this is after I bargained the price down. If it was slightly more, I would have been okay because I would have rationalized that some of it was going to charity, but this exorbitant difference has left me feeling completely taken advantage of and has tainted my impression of Jordanians. This happened on my first day of visiting Jordan. This experience has tainted my ability to enjoy my trip in Jordan. I am working with my bank and the store to cancel my order. It is a shame because I truly did want to support their craft and the people but now I feel dishonored, exploited, manipulated, and swindled. I will update this post if the transaction is canceled.

One of the stops on the Rainbow tour route: a souvenir shop with mosaic tiles from the shop, a view of Petra from the other side.

The ladies that work in this establishment putting these beautiful mosaics together are amazing. It's truly beautiful work