The learning curve was far worse than I expected

This has been true for me as well. Rust seems to have gratuitous syntax. If C did something and there was another way to do it then that other way was chosen.

With C if you want to return the value 42 then you say return 42; With Rust you say 42. There is a return statement; it just can't return anything. If you say if (a == b) Rust says:

  warning: unnecessary parentheses around `if` condition 

I'm willing to put up with this nonsense because of the safety guarantees. But really, it reminds me of Bananas:

  In addition to that,
  all citizens will be required
  to change their underwear
  every half hour.
  Underwear will be worn on the outside
  so we can check.

Edit: I got this a little but not a lot wrong. return 42 is supported but then it isn't clear at all why 42 is necessary. So my complaint of gratuitous syntax stands as does my respect for Rust's safety guarantees.