#include<bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
const int maxn = 1e3 + 10;
int a[maxn];
int main(){
int n,ans = 0;
scanf("%d",&n);
for(int i = 0;i < n;++i) scanf("%d",&a[i]);
for(int i = 1;i < n - 1;++i)
if((a[i - 1] - a[i]) * (a[i + 1] - a[i]) > 0) ans++;
printf("%d\n",ans);
return 0;
}