I think he was actually agreeing with you that the way that guy acted was inappropriate and not part of their culture. Like, yes, Latin American culture is known for being warm, welcoming, and even affectionate, but there's a difference between that and what that teacher did. There are boundaries even in cultures that are more touchy-feely, and that teacher crossed them.
Like, here, for example, I hate the way people greet each other. It's so uncomfortable to me. They kiss each others' cheeks 3 times. So like, when my husband's company had a Christmas party, I had to kiss every one of his coworkers and their wives on the cheek. I don't know them really well, but that's the expected greeting. You go to somebody's birthday, and you have to shake hands and kiss every guest's cheek by way of greeting. That's the custom. It's considered pretty rude if you don't do that here. Just like it would seem like a huge snub in the US if you refused to shake someone's hand when you are introduced. But no one here considers it inappropriate to greet each other in that way...that's just how it's done when you haven't seen someone for a time. But if a teacher greeted his students every day at the door like that, that would be inappropriate and would make people uncomfortable. There are boundaries to those customs even though it's part of the culture.
