Welcome to the party.

Question 1: Go to the Red Hot zone and click the search forum button in the top right hand corner. Enter seaech term "newbie". A bunch of ads will come up listing where the provider has specifically said she is or is not newbie friendly. Go from there.

Question 2: It is best to call ahead to AMPs and SubAMPs. Go to ECCIE.net and read through the reviews to find someone/some place you might be interested in. Figure it out from there. The trick to not being nervous is to just not be nervous. Be respectful, of course, but act like you own the place/like you've been there before. If they ask if you've been there before, answer honestly. Short version, just be a decent human and go with the flow.