without having the mesh or actual screen shots of the issues its hard to say whats the holdup

to map i normaly just mark my seams in the edit screen the split the scene to open a UV/Image editor screen then while the cursor is on the edit screen press U to unwrap

and yes the interface is a bit wokny thats why i tend to work in 2.49 mainly and only use 2.5+ for tutorials for new users

for help with the interface and a wealth of free tuts checkout www.blendercookie.com and just be patient long enough not to become a mental patient