About

Manarisms delves into the deep thoughts and sometimes not so deep happenings of an absurd world.  In other words, the world is an eccentric place and I’m here to blog about it. Manar is a twenty-something year old graduate student who has nothing better to do than study politics and blog when she is bored.  Born and raised in Cairo, Manar has spent half of her lifetime in Egypt and the other half in sunny California.  She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley in Middle Eastern Studies where she wrote a thesis on the Muslim Brotherhood’s tension between becoming legally recognized and intellectually developed.  

For a brief period of time, she worked as a Human Resources personnel at a sub-prime mortgage company in the midst of the mortgage crisis—an experience that left her jaded after filing paperwork to lay off hundreds of people, and some even her friends.  By a stroke of luck (and good counseling from a certain special someone), she resigned one week before the company went under and was very glad she got her vacation time paid out before she went to Vegas. She had a great time in Vegas.  

Manar also received an Associate’s degree in Mathematics, and should have gotten one in Physics too, but the community college has unreasonable rules. Now, she is working on her Master’s degree in Political Science at San Francisco State University where she concentrates on the Middle East.  She aspires to one day obtain her PhD in Political Science, become a professor, and produce more research in the field.  

Manar loves to talk politics, listen to music, scarf down bread, and munch on cheese. Her favorite band is Radiohead, and she greatly misses her pet hamster and turtles.