First person: Angel McCoughtry

I had been to Russia, Brazil and Canada with Team USA, but I had never lived overseas. At first I was supposed to play in China, but I ended up in Slovakia. I joined the Dobre Anjeli team which means Good Angels (what a coincidence), which was located in Kosice (pronounced Kassa).

Candice Dupree [of the Phoenix Mercury] was on the Good Angels. It was good to have another American there.

I was warmly greeted, given a tour and then got to work. I felt a part of the team right away. I was determined to adapt quickly because we needed to win some games.

They always have sellout crowds, and the support system is great. If you lose, they make you feel as though you just won by 30 points. And if you win they celebrate as if you just won a championship.

We came from the bottom of the pack to second place in our division. We made it to the playoffs and lost to Ekaterinburg, but I felt like we had won. The fans came rushing to greet us after the game and get our autographs.

In the Euro-league there were a lot of familiar faces: [WNBA players] Crystal Langhorne, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Marissa Coleman, Lindsay Whalen and Rebekkah Brunson. The WNBA is strong and very physical, and European ball is more finesse. They call traveling a lot more there. And only the coach can call a timeout.

I was able to travel to Italy, Poland, Russia, France ... beautiful places. We played in Spain, and I fell in love with churros with brown sugar on top. Prague is beautiful. On our way to Budapest we stopped to use the restroom and had to pay 80 cents. Now that was definitely different.

In that part of Europe, there are no people of color. People would stare at me, and sometimes I would feel weird. When I was driving, I saw a black guy on a bus and we stared at each other, I almost had an accident.

I went to the mall and left my cellphone in a store. I didn’t realize it until I went to meet Candice in the theatre. Candice had my phone. A storekeeper had said to her, “Another girl like you left this in the store.” She thought we knew each other because we were both black.

I learned to say, “Dobre babi” -- “Good job, ladies.” My favorite word is “Yizzish!” which means, “Oh my God.” I said that on a plane one time and learned never to do that. Everyone thought the plane was going to crash.

It can get very cold there. One day I thought it wasn’t going to stop snowing. It always seemed to be overcast. It got dark at 4 p.m. eastern time. I slept in until 1 p.m. one day, and it was dark three hours later. ... Geez!

My teammates were Greek, Serbian and Russian. Their names were long so we had nicknames like “Kucha” and “Ali.” I started eating their Kinder milk chocolate. We ate chocolate before the game and at halftime, “for energy.”

It was a disaster for my hair. I had to wear it in a bushy ponytail. They have no hair products for my type of hair, only a perm for the soccer players who like to straighten their hair. They had to order it, so instead I waited until I went home for a visit to get my hair permed. When I came back to Kosice they said, “Who are you?” I laughed and said, “I got my hair done."

I missed my family. I didn’t get homesick; I got people sick. Slovakia is an historical country, a sturdy place, not as modern as the U.S. There were a lot of boutiques, cafes, beautiful cathedrals. There was one mall, a zoo, bowling alley, museums -- simple things. I missed entertainment.

But I did go skiing, which I had never done before. It was a wonderful experience. Now the sky is the limit. I’m ready to go bungee jumping.

Living overseas made me more disciplined and humble. I didn’t have a clothes dryer and had to wring out and put my clothes on a heater to dry. I don’t ever want to take what I have for granted. I don’t want to complain. I am blessed. I have a lot.

I think everyone should visit the other side of the world. It’s life changing.

-- As told to Michelle Hiskey for the AJC