BASH --> Python tutor via IM/e-mail

I've been programming and BASH quite a bit and need to transition to python. I tried java, but it's too slow to learn how to replace all my bash scripts, which is what I want to do, I think python is probably a better replacement for this. I have written a couple test python scripts, but still don't understand it very well, so I want someone who can tutor me the quickest way possible from bash to python, especially when I get stuck. I can read, and will continue to read python tutorials, but when I get stuck I need help via IM preferrably, and quickly. I don't want to be told RTFM, I already know that, and am reading daily. I want to pay someone who's interested in teaching me. My specific tasks surround wget (or python equivalent) [login to view URL] -> put in some kind of datastructure or parse using python xml lib -> sanitize and error check -> put in mysql database, but I have a bunch of other scripts too, so I just need to get familiar with Python so I can convert my other scripts too, this is just a typical application. I could write the same thing in bash, but am getting tired of error handling with awk/sed/grep/whatever in bash, and the libraries aren't very robust. I'm not necessarily looking for the most perfect python technique either, I need to know the quickest way possible to become proficient, I can learn all the academia later. I'm using Eclipse/PvDev on Ubuntu as my IDE and subversion for versioning and Debian Squeeze 64bit for my staging and deployment server. I'm on -8 GMT and will be available off and on between 0800-2300 hours local time.