I'm guessing your definition of pain is different then mine - I don't have any issues with writing PHP - it just works for me. I've been developing in PHP since 2002, so by now I'm used to the language and how it works, and don't really have any expectations for new features.

I can see however that coming from a language like Python or Ruby, you're probably going to try to develop in PHP like you would in one of those languages - and I believe that is where frustration will be found. I think it's good to think of PHP as a "simpler" language - stick with the basics and it will work well (as well as be pretty fast).