If your goal is to rewrite your python code in C with minimal hassle, start thinking of objects as structs with functions attached to them. If you detach the functions from the structs, instead having them take structs as an argument, then you can obtain something which is C-like but likely very unoptimised.
Personally, I think I would steer you towards Rust or C++ instead - both can run just as quickly, but have more OOP features and modern features which may make moving easier. Learning C is still a very good thing to do, but I’m not sure this project would be the best project to do that with.
Adding on to the ones already named, A Practical Guide to Evil and Only Villains Do That are both very enjoyable. (There are a lot of shorter stories which I am very excited whenever they update, or longer stories which are not quite as good as the ones already named)