#include <bits/stdc++.h>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
    cin.tie(NULL);
    cout.tie(NULL);
    int n, result = 0;
    cin >> n;

    vector<int> tones(n);
    for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) cin >> tones[i];

    int first = tones[0];
    int size = 1;
    for(size; size < n; size++) if(first != tones[size]) break;

    result = size / 2;

    if(size < n)
    {
        bool direction = (tones[size - 1] < tones[size]);
        for(int i = size + 1; i < n; i++)
        {
            if(tones[i - 1] == tones[i])
            {
                result++;
                i++;
            }
            else if(direction == (tones[i - 1] < tones[i]))
            {
                result++;
                i++;
            }
            direction = !direction;
        }
    }

    cout << result << '\n';

    return 0;
}