using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using static System.Math;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
 
class DandA {
    static void Main(string[] args) {
        int n = ReadLineInt();
        int[] pArr = ReadLineIntArray();
        int rtn = 0;
        for (int i = 0; i < n - 2; i++) {
            if (pArr[i] < pArr[i + 1] && pArr[i + 1] < pArr[i + 2]) {rtn++;}
            if (pArr[i] > pArr[i + 1] && pArr[i + 1] > pArr[i + 2]) {rtn++;}
        }
        Console.WriteLine (rtn);
    }
    static private int CountChar(string s, string c) {
        return s.Length - s.Replace(c, "").Length;
    }
    static string alphabet = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
    static string[] strAry = new string[] {"L", "R", "U", "D"};
    static int[] intArray = new int[10];
    static List<int> intList = new List<int>();
    static Dictionary<string, int> myTable = new Dictionary<string, int>();
    static HashSet<int>[] rtnArrAb = null;
    static HashSet<int>[] rtnArrCd = null;
    static long[,] C = new long[2001,2001];
    static long div = 1000000007;
  
    static private string ReadLineStr() {return Console.ReadLine();}
    static private int ReadLineInt() {return int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());}
    static private long ReadLineLong() {return long.Parse(Console.ReadLine());}
    static private double ReadLineDouble() {return double.Parse(Console.ReadLine());}
    static private string[] ReadLineStrArray() {return Console.ReadLine().Trim().Split();}
    static private int[] ReadLineIntArray() {return Console.ReadLine().Trim().Split().Select(a => int.Parse(a)).ToArray();}
    static private long[] ReadLineLongArray() {return Console.ReadLine().Trim().Split().Select(a => long.Parse(a)).ToArray();}
    static private double[] ReadLineDoubleArray() {return Console.ReadLine().Trim().Split().Select(a => double.Parse(a)).ToArray();}
    static private decimal[] ReadLineDecimalArray() {return Console.ReadLine().Trim().Split().Select(a => decimal.Parse(a)).ToArray();}
    static private List<int> ReadLineIntList() {return Console.ReadLine().Trim().Split().Select(a => int.Parse(a)).ToList();}
    static private List<long> ReadLineLongList() {return Console.ReadLine().Trim().Split().Select(a => long.Parse(a)).ToList();}
    static private string[][] ReadMLineStrArray(int arg) { return new int[arg].Select(_ => Console.ReadLine().Split()).ToArray();}
    static private int[][] ReadMLineIntArray(int arg) { return new int[arg].Select(_ => Console.ReadLine().Split().Select(int.Parse).ToArray()).ToArray();}
 
    static private bool IsPrime(int num) {
        if (num < 2) return false;
        if (num == 2) return true;
        else if (num % 2 == 0) return false;
        double sqrtNum = Math.Sqrt(num);
        for (int i = 3; i <= sqrtNum; i += 2) {
            if (num % i == 0) return false;
        }
        return true;
    }
  
    static private string IntToNString(int x, int n) {
        var nstring = "";
        var numbers = new string[] { "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f" };
        int r = 1;
        int q = x;
        while (q > 0) {
            r = q % n;
            nstring += numbers[r];
            q = q / n;
        }
        return string.Join("",nstring.Reverse());
    }
    static private long Gcd(long m,long n){
        long temp;
        while(m % n != 0){
            temp = n;
            n = m % n;
            m = temp;
        }
        return n;
    }

    static private long Combination(long n,long r){
        if(n < r){
            return 0;
        }
        if(n == r || r == 0){
            return 1;
        }else if(C[n,r] == 0){
            
            C[n,r] = (Combination(n-1,r-1)+Combination(n-1,r)) % div;
        }
        return C[n,r];
    }
}

Measured memory_bytes: 15572