Hey Jay,
If I were you I would get an EPP foam model as your first kit. A really great model to learn with is the DAW I-26 2 meter. One of the BEST things about this kit is it is made from EPP foam. It will bounce when you crash (and you WILL crash :-) which allows you to spend more time flying then rebuilding.
Dave's Aircraft Works (DAW) went out of business a while ago but SkyKing has permission to start production on some of the DAW kits. You can check them out here.
Dave Garwood even shows you how to make it into a two piece wing with removable tail so it's easy to travel with. Jim Porter also shows how to modify for a 2 piece plug on wing and nose hook for bungee launching. There's a link to the PDF files on the page below.
http://www.skykingrcproducts.com/rcp...26_2meter.html
Good lift,
Dave