#include<iostream>
#include<cmath>
using namespace std;
const int N=1000;
int main (){
int n,a[N],cnt=0;
cin>>n;
for(int i=0;i<n;i++)
cin>>a[i];
for(int i=1;i<n-1;i++)
if(a[i-1]<a[i]&&a[i+1]<a[i]||a[i-1]>a[i]&&a[i+1]>a[i])
cnt++;
cout<<cnt<<endl;
}