Good luck with your new friend. I think you'll find that there's really not much that you can do on a steel-string guitar that you can't do on nylon except maybe hardcore bluegrass. Main thing is not to let the fact that it's a "classical" guitar dictate the "proper" way to play it. Yeh, naked-finger-picking is the usual way to play on nylon. But, if that's not your style, you don't have to learn how to play guitar all over again. Willie Nelson uses a flatpick on nylon strings. I play my nylon guitar with the same thumb and finger picks that I use for banjo or steel-string guitar and the guitar police haven't come to the door yet.
And if you ever win the lottery and want to upgrade from that Ibanez, check out Taylor's nylon series. Sweet!