How much experience do you have with C? My guess is that the difference you feel between the two languages has more to do with your level of familiarity than with anything inherent in the language itself.

Personally, I often experience the sensation you describe while programming in C. I'm always wondering if I'm managing my pointers correctly or if I'm opening up a huge memory leak. Every time I start getting into pointer arithmetic I have to haul out a notepad to get it straight.

But with Perl, my first move is often my last. It's not that there aren't other ways to do it but I know my ways and I know they work.

Bottom line: stick with it and pretty soon you'll be babbling fluently in a dialect of Perl all your own.

-sam