1、折点计数
n = int(input());
list1 = list(map(int,input().split()));
list2 = [];
for i in range(1,n,1):
list2.append(list1[i] - list1[i-1]);
# print(list2);
count = 0;
for i in range(n-1):
if(i!=n-2):
if(list2[i]<0 and list2[i+1]>0):
count = count+1;
elif(list2[i]>0 and list2[i+1]<0):
count = count + 1;
print(count);