#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main(){
    int n;  cin >> n;
    int status = 0, res = 0;
    int pre = -1;
    for(int i = 0; i < n; i ++ ){
        int tmp;    cin >> tmp;
        if(pre == -1) pre = tmp;
        else if(pre > tmp){
            if(status){
                if(status > 0)  res ++ , status = -1;
            }else   status = -1;
            pre = tmp;
        }else if(pre < tmp){
            if(status){
                if(status < 0)  res ++ , status = 1;
            }else   status = 1;
            pre = tmp;
        } 
    }
    cout << res << endl;
    return 0;
}