#include <bits/stdc++.h> 
using namespace std; 
const int maxN = (int) 1e5 + 6; 
vector<int> dp(maxN, 1); 
vector<int> a; 
vector<int> mode(maxN); 
bool comp(int i, int j) { 
 if (mode[j] == 0) { 
  if (a[i] > a[j]) { 
   mode[i] = 1; 
   return true; 
  } 
  if (a[j] < a[j]) { 
   mode[i] = 2; 
   return true; 
  } 
  return false; 
 } 
 if (mode[j] == 1) { 
  if (a[i] < a[j]) { 
   mode[i] = 2; 
   return true; 
  } 
  return false; 
 } 
 if (mode[j] == 2) { 
  if (a[i] > a[j]) { 
   mode[i] = 1; 
   return true; 
  } 
  return false; 
 } 
} 
int main() { 
 ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false); 
 cin.tie(0); 
 int n; 
 cin >> n; 
 int nsave = n; 
 for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { 
  int tmp; 
  cin >> tmp; 
  if (i == 0) a.push_back(tmp); else { 
   if (tmp == a[a.size() - 1]) continue; else a.push_back(tmp); 
  } 
 } 
 n = a.size(); 
 int ans = 0; 
 for(int i = 0; i < n; i++) { 
  dp[i] = 1; 
  for(int j = 0; j < i; j++) { 
   if (comp(i, j) && dp[i] < dp[j] + 1) { 
    dp[i] = dp[j] + 1; 
   } 
  } 
  if (i == 0 || i == 1) ans++; else { 
   if (mode[i - 1] != mode[i]) ans++; 
  } 
 } 
 cout << nsave - ans; 
 return 0; 
}