I am a meditation retreat drop-out

It's true.  Months ago I briefly looked over the schedule and expectations of this 10 day silent meditation retreat but I don't think I really imagined what it would be like.  Each day began with the chiming of a bell at 4am.  Time to get up!  At 4:30 am meditation practice began followed by a light yoga session and more meditation until breakfast at 8am.  The day continued with the chiming of various bells indicating the start or stop of some meditation activity or talk.  The last chime came at 9pm where I would briskly walk back to my female dormitory and fall quickly asleep on my concrete bed with wooden pillow.  This schedule was some how manageable until on day 5 when the staff informed us that we would no longer be having our daily "dhamma talks." Instead, we would be practicing from 10am to 12:30 pm.   I had come to enjoy the "dhamma talks" not because they were terribly interesting but because they broke up the time before lunch and because the idea of having a "dhamma talk" was kind of hilarious to me.  I left the retreat on day 6 with a smile on my face partly because I was leaving and because I did feel calmer and had many insights during my few days at Suan Mohk.  It was a really good experience.