The -ra spells take quite a while to show up. I also had Curaga for a while before I had Fira and such. I don't know why they keep them out of your hands for so long, but you didn't miss them or anything they just take forever. The gap between the -ra and the -ga spells didn't seem as bad though.
I pretty much have all the Gambits available now and I can do pretty much whatever I want. Foe HP > 10,000 | Graviga is fun to watch.
And Foe status=Protect | Dispel (and another for shell) makes my life so much easier it's not even funny. Especially during bosses or Hunts, where the enemies love protect.