Ajijic, Mexico - The casa del Reo carries USA TODAY. Dr Pepper is available at a local grocery store.The English-language library has 23,000 books, and a representative of the Chicago based Beltone hearing aid company flies down once a month to make his rounds.

On the shore of Lake Chapala, a wonderland of sunny skies, mild temperatures and a low cost of living are luring thousands of retired Americans and Canadians. Itís possibly the largest community of North American expatriates in the world.

"I thought Florida was heaven." said Skip Waggoner, 58, of Sebring, Fla., who retired to Ajijic four years ago. "But when I found this, I fell in love with the place. This is definitely paradise."

The official language of this paradise is English. With more than 10,000 full-time residents from the United States and Canada and thousands more who come for a few months every winter -- the Chapala area often doesn't seem that different from their home countries.

People can watch American television over satellite dishes. Grocery stores stock Manwich sloppy joe mix, Stove Top stuffing, even Taco Bell taco seasoning. English-language newspapers are available at most newsstands.

Those "at-home" touches draw more and more retirees every year. Although no one keeps statistics, residents say the influx has grown considerably in the past few years, and with millions of baby boomers in the United States approaching retirement age the trend is expected to continue.

Of the handful of towns that line the retiree corridor along the northwestern corner of Lake Chapala, the most popular is Ajijic, pronounced ah-hee-heek.

With cobblestone streets that date back to the 16th century, Ajijic combines the charms of old Mexico and small town America.

"There comes a point when you want out of the pressure pot, out of the rat race," said Wayne Lamb, a 62-year-old who heads American Legion Post 9 in Ajijic. "This is it. It's the best of both worlds."

The society runs an orphanage, offers scholarships to send local children to good schools and has a humane society. Such activities help encourage warm relations between the expatriates and the Mexican residents of the area -- as do the dollars that have protected the local economy from peso devaluation.

The overall cost of living in Chapala remains low. Many residents have full-time maids and gardeners, who generally are paid $1 an hour well above Mexico's minimum wage of $3.40. A good meal at a restaurant runs $5 to $8.

The weather is sunny and mild all year long, and there is little humidity, so there is no need for heating or air conditioning.

Kent Edwards, 59 a lawyer from Anchorage, Alaska, said the lower cost of living allowed him and his wife to retire five years earlier than planned. This fall, the couple will move to Ajijic permanently to run a bed-and-breakfast.

'The only complaint most people have is that they didnít come here sooner," said Waggoner, the Florida retiree.