#include<stdio.h>
int main(){
int n, i;
scanf("%d", &n);
int yesterday, today, tomorrow;
scanf("%d%d", &yesterday, &today);
int cnt = 0;
for(i=3; i<=n; i++){
scanf("%d", &tomorrow);
if(yesterday<today && today>tomorrow) cnt++;
else if(yesterday>today && today<tomorrow) cnt++;
yesterday = today;
today = tomorrow;
}
printf("%d", cnt);
return 0;
}