Get a proper safelight, please. You can't count on anything else to be truly safe. I prefer red, Kodak 1A standard, as my safelight of choice, since it is safe for all the sensitized materials I work with. There are a few brands of variable contrast papers that require a red safelight. Most will be just fine with an Kodak OC standard safelight. Use nothing brighter than a 15 watt bulb, kept 4 feet away from any paper and you'll be fine. If you bounce the safelight off a white wall or ceiling, you can use a 25 watt bulb.
A good, and economical paper to get started with is Arista.EDU Ultra from Freestyle. This is re-labeled Foma paper and it is pretty good. Here's a link to a copy of an early print I made on this paper.
http://www.apug.org/forums/attachmen...4&d=1169598155