Much better to get a good practice chanter, and there's certainly nothing wrong with a good plastic chanter, like a Dunbar polypenco chanter. And it's definitely a different instrument than a recorder.

What about finding someone on XMarks who is willing to give you some lessons via Skype? Wouldn't matter where you were in the world, as long as your computer has a little video camera and so does your teacher.

I'd be happy to volunteer to teach you, if you ever want to learn. Just PM me.