I ran into problems when I first started writing scheme. I think the learning curve seems steep because it is a different paradigm than python. Lisps are all functional languages. Most commonly used languages in the end are similar, they are imperative languages.
I'd expect it to take some time to get used to and learn this new style of coding. Variables in general are not needed especially outside the scope of a function or macro. Syntax is weird because there isn't much of it to begin with.
I'd recommend that you first read the entire tutorial and make sure you understand what's going on there. Then I'd recommend reading some of Paul Graham's "On Lisp". Even though it is in CL instead of arc - I think the philosophy is the same.
