Time keeps on slippin.....

From the few weeks being here and settling in Cuenca for an extended period of time it seems the concept of time is different here.  In the United States we pride ourselves on punctuality.  Here it almost seems as if time is a suggestion not a statement of fact.  When a group of us were told to meet at 2:30, we got there around 2:15 whereas our Cuenca friends showed up around 3.  It is intriguing that such an act is normal in this culture while in the United States it would be very rude to be even a few minutes late to a meeting.  Its almost as if clocks are made differently here with the numbers jumbled.  That is the other thing about Ecuador time that is different.  In the United States, there are clocks everywhere.  Here it is almost impossible to locate a clock unless you are on a computer.  The house I am staying in has 3 clocks, but only one of them is actually set to a reasonably close time.  I am starting to feel uptight because of how closely I keep things scheduled instead of just letting loose and let time roll by as it always does.  To me, it seems primitive to not denote what hour it is.  It seems less productive in a way because you have to plan for the area of time instead of exact time.  On the other hand, things seem to run more flowingly here.  There are less disputes due to people being late and not a level of stress due to time.  To be rushed is to be uptight here.  I do not know if I will be able to adjust to this form or not or even if it is logical to do so.  The only thing to do, I suppose, is to accept the difference and assimilate to the time frame. It is always easier said than done though.