| Kuwait is a pretty cool place. Most Kuwaitis are super nice and dig 'Mericans. Fund stuff to do and Dubai is the happiest place on Earth.
As for your gear/practice/playing...sell your huge cabs and stacked racks. Get yourself a nice practice amp and a couple basses (a nice fretless and a nice fretted) and go sign up for the online classes and do some serious woodshedding while you're there. I honestly don't know about the local music scene and the possibility of gigging as I was there in a military capacity. But I'm guessing there isn't a thriving music scene (though I could be wrong). But if your g/f is contracting, that means she will be likely working everyday. So you'll be spending a lot of time alone. Use it to hone your skills. Practice like a champ. Do some online courses in performance, theory, etc. Practice some more. Go out and see Kuwait; again, it's a cool place. Take a flight to Dubai and thank me later.
As for the availability of gear over there, again, I can't really speak to that but what I do know is that you can get pretty much anything you want in the middle east. As for bringing stuff back, ship it back before you leave. I shipped a bunch of stuff from the mid east. When I got on the plane to come home I only had what I took with me.
I'm not sure who your g/f will be contracting for but I know that most of the contractors offer quarterly vacations for two weeks or so. Go explore some of those fantasy bass shops around the world and pick some stuff up and ship it home to a family member or a friend.
Culture shock isn't that bad, really. Kuwait city is pretty modern and can be fun. And again, Dubai is awesome.
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Tough times don't last. Tough people do.
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