You need 10 brahmin hides, go out of green areas, click triangle, and hold right click on the hides, then click on the skill list, click science, and you've made a tent. (WARNING: You can only make one tent per character, any tents you make after your previous tent are deleted the moment of new tent's creation!)
NCR or well the hub/boneyard i guess, or junktown, are great newb starting cities, DO NOT go into any northern towns right now, practically a nation of raiders and alliances are holding all the towns, killing everyone on sight, except maybe redding, but im sure since its still always a ghost town people are gettin killed.
quests are in the mentioned towns, ncr and Boneyard have the best ones for newbs, and there are some repeatables, like shoveling brahmin shit and carrying boxes off caravans.
P.s. no where are enemies weak, they are all strongs with huge guns ready to tear you apart, this game is very harsh, you are 99% likely to die 50 times before you figure out how to play the game, and will prolly ragequit by the 10th. This game is very elitist so try to join a gang, and good fucking luck!
p.p.s. please dont ragequit, once you figure out the game it is really really fun, I promise.
If you see NPCs in town, moving around, running toward you, or simply look out of place, run for your life, they're a player's followers, and they are 99% liekly there to kill you.