PHP was where I began programming, but Perl has won my heart. (This contrast may be helpful.)

I prefer Perl for the syntax, community, modules, and many others reasons that escape me at the moment :)

Regarding your first question: I think modules make Perl easier in many respects. I get frustrated when I cannot find many standards—modules—in PHP, and folks begin reinventing the wheel because a tool does not exist, or, if it does, it's subpar, etc.

P.S. There are some learning resources here: http://learn.perl.org.